Charles sighed, making to run a hand through his hair, only to remember that he no longer had any locks to do so—bloody Apocalypse.
Well that could've gone worse, thought Charles, dropping his hand back down to his side. Sure, it definitely could have gone better, but it also could have gone worse.
He was just trying to look out for the boy, and yes, perhaps spare the world from whatever a nearly unstoppable and emotionally unstable speedster looked like under Erik's influence. But those two motives didn't have to be mutually exclusive.
Although Peter's accusation about leaving him alone and exposed after their impromptu jailbreak had hit home, Charles did in fact care for the young man despite—in hindsight—having failed him. He hadn't purposely disregarded the speedster. It was just that a decade ago there had been so much going on. At the time, Charles was on the difficult path of getting over his addiction, while at the same time trying to adjust to a world that suddenly knew about the existence mutants. The latter factor made it more important than ever to get the school back up and running. But yes, admittedly, it had not occurred to Charles that one young kleptomaniac might benefit from a place at the school too, and it seemed Charles was rightfully paying for that oversight now.
Charles maneuvered his wheelchair over to the window, planning to open it to let in some fresh air that he hoped might jump start his neurons and help him figure out how to remedy his botched conversation with Peter, but as Charles pulled the curtain aside and looked out across the grounds, the bundle of nerves in the pit of his stomach only grew, for across the freshly manicured lawn, Peter—clearly more upset than he'd let on with his final parting words—once again walked step and step with Erik.
And that, perhaps more than anything else, worried Charles because if Peter sought Erik—the man who had paralyzed Charles, who had killed men without remorse, who had briefly fought on the side of a mutant set on destroying the world, and who had watched Peter nearly meet his end by that same mutant—out when he was in distress, then Erik had his claws in Peter far deeper than Charles had imagined.
Charles tightened his grip on the sides of his chair. He may have failed the boy before, but he would not fail him again. This time, he wouldn't leave Peter to his own devices. No, rather, Charles would do everything in his power to keep the speedster out of Erik's control.
Charles rolled his chair down the hall, the sight of Peter and Erik side by side, two eerily similar silhouettes on the lawn, still weighed heavy on his mind hours later, which is why he had called Hank and Raven to his office.
Charles would have preferred to speak with his friend and sister immediately after his discussion with Peter, but they all had their own responsibilities during school hours, so it was only after classes had ended for the day that he was able to meet with them.
The two were waiting in his office when Charles arrived after dismissing his last class.
Raven sat with her feet up on Charles' desk. She had pulled up a chair behind the desk, which obviously usually sat empty to accommodate Charles' wheelchair.
"So, what's the occasion, Charles?" Asked Raven, looking at Charles expectantly, as she put her hands behind her head. "Are we celebrating? A bit rude that you didn't invite Erik, unless he left and we're celebrating that? Which, also a bit rude, but . . ."
Raven shrugged, as if to say she'd still be up to celebrating Erik's departure, even if it wasn't polite to do so.
"We're not celebrating, Raven. And Erik didn't leave." Said Charles, gesturing for her to move, which she did with an eyeroll, dragging the chair off to the side of the desk, and kicking her feet up on it again much to Charles' annoyance.
"So why the formal meeting then, Charles?" asked Hank, who stood, resting with his back against the wall, looking a little uneasy.
"I just wanted to talk to you both" Charles began, "because . . . you're both observant, and I wondered, if you noticed—"
"That you've started dressing like Mr. Rogers?" Raven interjected. "Yes, yes we have."
"No, Raven." Said Charles, taking his turn to roll his eyes. "I wondered, if either of you had noticed that Peter has been spending quite a bit of time with Erik as of late."
Charles looked from Hank to Raven, gauging their reactions and waiting for their responses. He didn't try to probe into their minds. Raven had long since become adept at keeping him out, so such an endeavor would likely have been fruitless and after spending so many years with Charles, Hank deserved his privacy.
Hank looked surprised by the question, but Charles thought there was something in Raven's expression that said she wasn't shocked by the inquiry.
"Not really. He's kind of hard to keep tabs on." Said Hank finally, answering first.
"Peter or Erik?" Charles questioned the other man.
"Both." Hank replied with a small chuckle.
Raven snorted. "Maybe for you."
"Oh, then you have noticed them spending time together, Raven, have you?" Charles asked again, a little more forcefully.
"Maybe." Said Raven with a disinterested shrug. "So what if they are? Peter's an adult. He can choose who he spends time with."
"Well yes, but—" Charles began, but Raven interrupted once more.
"Then what's the issue exactly?" She asked, while rummaging through his desk, finding a stick of gum, and popping it into her mouth.
"The issue is that Peter is young and impressionable, and—good or bad—Erik tends to leave an impression. I worry that Peter's not spending enough time with his peers. Outside of X-men training, I hardly see Peter with the rest of the team, at least not compared to how often I see him following Erik around." Said Charles, frustrated that he was the only one seeing the matter so clearly.
"What peers?" Raven retorted. "Newsflash, Charles, but Peter's way too young to be considered our peer, and he's a bit too old to be a peer with the rest of your X-men. The kid's on his own, so big deal if he's splitting his time between two groups of people, neither of which he really belongs to."
"I am aware of Peter's age, Raven, thank you. And he's not splitting his time between two groups. He's spending a little bit of time with the older students and the majority of his time with Erik. And regardless of whether you can label the rest of the students as Peter's peers, he's still just as impulsive as his teenage self, and you know how Erik can be! He can have a surprising amount of charisma when he puts in a little effort, and I'm afraid it won't take much to convince Peter to do something . . . untoward. After all, it took all of two minutes to convince him to break into the Pentagon." Said Charles, trying to get Raven and Hank to understand the seriousness of the situation. "Aren't you the least bit concerned about Erik having some sort of influence over the boy?"
Raven just shook her head at her brother in disbelief. "You're really not giving Peter enough credit. For all your talk of the good in people, it's like you expect the worse of him. Of both of them."
"I'm not saying Peter would intentionally do something regrettable, but again, Erik can be . . . convincing to say the least." Charles replied before turning to Hank, from whom he hoped to find more support. "Hank? Don't you agree that we should encourage Peter to spend some more time with the X-men or even other students?"
Hank looked back and forth between Raven and Charles, somewhat resembling a child stuck in the middle of his parents' argument. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to suggest that Peter engage in a little more team bonding, but . . . Peter's a good kid, Charles, even if he's a little . . . . unconventional. None of us would be here without him. And when he can focus on something, he's extremely intelligent. And he's not spending all hours of the day with Erik because he's been spending a good portion of it shadowing me when I'm not teaching. Besides, I really don't think he's just going to follow Erik blindly wherever he ends up going."
"I know that." said Charles, still frustrated. He couldn't even get through to Hank, who had stood by his side for over two decades, "I know he wouldn't follow Erik blindly, but he could be convinced."
"What exactly is it that you're so worried about?" asked Raven, rising to her feet. "If he wanted to, Peter could kill every single person in this place before any of us even blinked. But he hasn't, and he's not going to because if you'd bothered to get to know him at all, you would know that he cares about people and life in general. I mean, he took the time to save a fucking gold fish when the school exploded! Who does that?! And if you're actually worried about Peter, you don't need to be. Erik is a lot of things to a lot of people, but he'd never do anything to put Peter in danger—or—or any of your students. And, speaking of which, if it's youth and impressionability you're worried about, shouldn't you be concerned with the actual children at your school?"
"I would be—I am—I do worry about the children at my school, but none of the other students hang about Erik one-on-one at all hours of the day, discussing god knows what!" Charles replied, his voice rising several decibels.
"So you'd rather leave Erik, who is supposed to be your friend, and who just lost his wife and daughter, alone with his thoughts or drive him away for good? Did you ever think that maybe Peter would be a good influence on Erik and not the other way around?" Raven asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"That's not my intention. Erik is welcome here. I—"
"It sure doesn't seem like it." said Raven, interrupting Charles before he could finish laying out reasoning she didn't believe.
"Well you're one to talk. I don't see you welcoming Erik with open arms. You were just joking about him leaving for goodness' sake! Frankly, I'm surprised that you're defending him so fiercely when not so long ago he tried to kill you for the greater good!" Charles shot back.
"The key word there is that I was joking about him leaving, and I'm not defending him! Even before he tried to kill me, I've had to frequently resist the urge to deck him the face and probably cut myself on his perfect cheekbones, but lately, more often than not, it just seems cruel to shun a man who has lost almost every good thing he's ever had in life." Said Raven with a sullen look on her face. "Besides, I like Peter, and trying to keep Peter away from Erik is only going to hurt the kid because he clearly likes spending time with Erik for some reason. It doesn't have to matter what that reason is."
"Yes. It does. It matters a great deal." Charles emphasized. "And you barely know Peter! It's not like you to grow attached to someone so quickly."
"I know him better than you." Raven replied, folding her arms across her chest. "It doesn't take long to figure out that Peter is a bright spot in a world of assholes, even if he can be a little shit some times."
"If you're worried about Peter, why don't you just talk to him?" Hank butted in before the Raven and Charles could continue their bickering. They both flinched a little at the sound of his voice, possibly because they had forgotten he was in the room.
"Well—uh—yes, obviously I—" Charles began, but, once again, Raven spoke over him.
"Oh this is too good!" Said Raven with a laugh, sitting back down in her chair. "You've already talked to Peter, haven't you? And I bet he told you to piss off."
"I did speak with him, yes," Raven laughed again as Charles turned a slight shade of pink at the admission. "And, I admit, it could've gone better, but again, I'm just trying to look out for the boy."
"Well then, unless you plan on trying to mind control Peter—which good luck with that—or kicking Erik to the curb, I suggest you get used to the fact that Erik is allowed to have friends outside of yourself, and Peter is a grown man that doesn't have to listen to you unless it relates to his job here—whatever that actually is." Said Raven, rising to her feet again, unmistakably conveying that she thought there was nothing left to discuss. She went to the door and opened it, but before she left, she turned back to her brother once more. "Trust me, Charles, if you try to meddle in Erik and Peter's business, you're only going to push them both away. And if that's really not your intention, then I suggest you stop trying to interfere in their lives."
With that, Raven exited Charles' office, shutting the door behind her none too gently.
"You've been awfully quiet." Said Charles after a moment, turning to Hank, who had gone back to leaning against the wall, a little more awkwardly this time, evidently feeling out of place, given that the conversation had mostly gone on without his input. "What do you think about all of this?"
Once again, Charles could have pulled the answer from his mind. He got hints of it without even trying. Hank's mind, despite being a marvel of knowledge—or perhaps because of it—had never been as adept at shielding himself from Charles' reach as Raven or Erik's, even with having spent so much time together.
"I think . . . you probably both have a point. Do I believe Erik is someone Peter should waste his time with? No. He might not mean to, but he'll probably only hurt him. But Raven's right too. As young as he seems, Peter is mature enough to make his own decisions, and Erik's a broken man. Perhaps Peter will help piece him back together." Hank replied calmly.
And then, he too departed, once again leaving Charles alone in his office with only his thoughts—and, if he so wished to listen, most of the school's students' thoughts—to keep him company.
{Author's Note: Not my favorite chapter, but I do what I can.}