Tags/Warnings: mentions of past rape/non-con, forced marriage, domestic violence, mpreg, child abuse/neglect

Charles plopped down heavily on the bed designated his at Logan's inn. Well, Logan's home now. David was fast asleep, the long journey tuckering the two-year-old out. Charles had lain him in the nursery where slept two other children in cribs who looked to be of an age with his son. Mr. Eisenhardt's twins, he was told. He also had an older daughter who was asleep. After that, he settled in this room with his belongings. It was a small room and mostly bare save the fireplace, a rickety desk, a wardrobe, a divider behind which was a chamber pot, and a double bed. Even so, Charles had not known more comfortable accommodations in years. He considered it a leg up to the mansion that had become his prison.

He walked over to the window. There wasn't much of a view, mostly just forest and distant lights from the village beyond the boundary of the trees. He pushed the window open and took a deep breath of nature. The smell of evergreens and pines filled his nostrils and he relaxed. Weeks of planning and days of riding, trekking, sailing, and here he was: free. There was no Kurt to exert his will over his life, no Cain to force himself upon him, no bevy of supposed friends who knew exactly the brutality Charles endured in his forced marriage and did nothing to help, no doctors to force drugs down his throat to make him powerless and compliant. A genuine smile, however small, tugged at his lips at the notion of actual freedom. He reached behind him and touched the back of his right shoulder, feeling the indentations from one of Cain's marks. It would fade with time just like his unappealing alpha stench had following the divorce, but for now, the evidence of his prior marriage remained.

Charles was in a delicate position. He was a newly unbonded omega who had run from his alpha, got a biological divorce without his permission, and taken their child with him. That action would make his life forfeit in some circles, but Charles did not care. The lure of self-determination and autonomy far outweighed any fear of being labeled a pariah and exiled from the aristocracy.

Cain didn't care about David or Charles, but Kurt would never allow this embarrassment to stand. He would keep looking for them. Charles hoped the body of water between Genosha and his home country of Westchester hampered his efforts enough for Charles to decide what to do next. Perhaps he and David would get on a ship once more, sail across the sea to the Americas and see what it had to offer, but they would need money for that.

Charles' thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Yes?"

The door opened to reveal Logan. He shot his godfather a smile as he approached him. Logan had been in his life for as long as he could remember, even before Raven was adopted. He had been a dear friend and business associate of Charles' father, so close that Brian named Logan his godfather. Charles remembered the man making frequent visits to the Xavier estate. He always made time to indulge Charles in all his whims. After Brian died, Charles hoped Logan would come to the Xavier estate, but Sharon forbade it when word got around that Logan had relations with fellow alphas. Still, Charles kept up a written correspondence until his marriage made it impossible.

Logan came to stand beside him and stared out the window. His scent wafted over to him. Charles had not been this close to an alpha since he left the Xavier estate. He had run to York to stay with Lord Stark, probably his last friend in Westchester. Tony was a beta and so was his wife. He had many people living with him, including alphas, but Charles stayed sequestered in his designated chambers, recuperating from all the years he had lost to Cain. Logan was different. Other than David, Logan was all the family he had left. The familiarity of him, the smell of leather, sea salt, and oak mixed with cigar smoke, reaffirmed that Charles was safe and far away from the Markos. He took another deep breath, seeking out the comforting scent, but it stuttered and rattled in his chest.

The biological divorce was hard on him. Tony had ensured he was treated by the best and Dr. Strange had undoubtedly made it a lot less painful than anecdotes would have him believe, but it was still a risky procedure prone to causing infections. The voyage, even though it had only taken five days, hadn't helped his health either. Beyond that, he was not yet healed from his time with his ex-husband. Not for the first time, Charles wished the Markos weren't away when he fled from Salem for York's safer pastures. He wouldn't have killed them, at least he didn't think he would, but he would have made them pay for what they had done to him and David, what they took from them.

"Are you not well?" Logan asked, placing a hand on Charles' shoulder.

"I am recovering. The divorce took its toll, though the doctor said I handled it better than most. My ribs are improving, but..."

Logan made a gesture at his shirt for permission. If it were any other alpha, he might have refused, but he trusted Logan. Once Charles nodded, he lifted his garments and tugged the bandage away, peering past to see the injury. Logan let out a low growl of disapproval.

"It looked a lot worse days ago. The doctor gave me some bandages and salves before Tony bundled me off on the ship to Genosha."

"Perhaps we should change your bandages now," he suggested.

Charles nodded to his bags and let Logan lead him to the bed, where he sat down gingerly.

Logan went through his bags to find the salve and bandages he had for his ribs, as well as the elixirs Dr. Strange gave him to fight infection. Logan tended to him silently. He could see that his ribs were not as violet as before, nor protruding so noticeably. He was lucky they hadn't punctured his lungs, or he might have died. Cain was never careful with him, never tried to watch his strength, even though he knew that with his Gift he could break bones with a flick of the fingers. But that was how Cain had always been. Even as a child, he used his superstrength to torment others and lord his physical superiority over their heads. He embodied some of the worst hallmarks of alphas: brash, uncaring, abusive, manipulative, rough, cold, and overbearing. Charles had been sure the moment Kurt thought to force a marriage between them that Cain would kill him one day. Even when he managed to run, he thought he would die at Tony's estate from the combined hurt of the divorce and his ribs. After losing his father, his sister, and five years of his life to marriage, to lose anything else was unthinkable. He didn't realize he was projecting until Logan squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.

"Shake it off, kid. You got away. You are here. That asshole is leagues away. If he ever made the mistake of showing up here looking for you, I'd send him back to his father in pieces."

"You're right. It's just still a little raw for me. I didn't think I would make it. I'm still processing the fact that I got away at all."

"I'm not surprised you did. You were always stronger than you gave yourself credit for. Marko could try, but I knew he'd never break you."

Charles let an appreciative smile alight his lips before knocking back one of the potions.

"How did you manage to get away from them? Did Stark help you out?"

"David."

Logan rose an eyebrow.

"He manifested. He is a telepath too. He doesn't quite know how to use his powers, but he's strong and he knew what he wanted. He wanted me. He knew the doctors were giving me medication that made… well, it didn't make me myself."

He shuddered to think of days spent staring out a window vacantly, held down by a cocktail of suppressants, laudanum, and opioids.

"David wanted his father, so he influenced the doctors to stop giving me the medications. I was able to claw my way back to consciousness. When I realized what was happening, I started making plans to leave. It took patience, but once Cain and Kurt went off to a ball, I left under cover of night. I made my way to Tony's estate. He let me stay until I got on my feet and figured out where to go next. I remembered you talking about your inn and thought I would try my luck."

"Good thing you did. I am glad to see you. When you stopped writing, I got worried. I managed to get correspondence to Stark after a while, and he told me you were married to Cain, appealed to me to help you as your godfather. I planned to go and get you myself, but I ran into some trouble here."

"I do not blame you for anything, Godfather."

"Still, you will be safe here. No one from the village comes here. We have little connection with Westchester since we aren't a trading village or near a port. And do not worry about Max. He seems like a rough son-of-a-bitch, but he stays quiet most of the time."

Max Eisenhardt. What an unremarkable meeting that was. It was nothing more than a nod of the head, a silent presence, and an aloof glance away, and yet Charles had felt a flash of heat the moment he laid eyes on him. He was certainly pleasing to the eye. His auburn hair fell into his grey-green eyes, his tanned skin glowed warmly in the firelight, and his scent was an intoxicating musk of smoke and metal. Not an unattractive alpha at all, but not a temptation Charles could afford.

Logan snorted and Charles looked back at him.

"What is it?"

Logan shook his head with amusement but brushed Charles' question aside.

"Nothing, kid. I just think the inn will be a good place for you to find some peace and happiness after what's happened. You got a chance for a new life now for yourself and David. You should think about that, focus on it instead of the past. Anyway, you had a hard journey to get here. Get some rest."

Logan got up and walked out of the room with a final salutation. Charles watched him go before he settled back in the bed, his mind cloudy with thoughts. He could not help but think once more of Mr. Eisenhardt.

He recalled the man looking away from him with a grimace when he had given him a polite smile. Charles was aware that he still smelled of the afterscent of his biological divorce. Mr. Eisenhardt must have made all sorts of assumptions about him already. He probably believed him to be of ill-repute. Perhaps he thought him a harlot seeking refuge with a fellow outcast. That wasn't far off. In his teenhood, there had been much indulgence. He thought to make himself a trollop to embarrass Kurt and defy the forced engagement to Cain in hopes his stepfather, or even his mother, would call it off. It was to no avail. His dalliances only rewarded him with harsh fists and turned backs when he needed help due to his loose character.

No matter what Charles did now, he would forever be considered ruined. His onus in life as an omega was that he was to give everything he could possibly own to his mate. All property, all children, all money belonged to his mate. His very body was for his mate to do with as they pleased. He had no recourse beyond if an alpha from his birth family stepped in to dispute the bond. Even then, the grounds needed to be more substantive than simple spousal battery. That was expected and the omegas were meant to endure it, as was their lot in life according to the customs and laws of God and men. In defying those social mores, Charles had ousted himself and David from polite society.

That fact didn't make him shed any tears of loss, but he had to be a realist. He was now in dire financial straits. He had only limited commerce, enough to buy food and clothing and hire horses if necessary, perhaps stay a while in a run-down inn, though thanks to Logan's accommodations he needn't worry about that. He would have to write to Tony and inform him he had reached safely. He was sure the beta would want to start sending him copious amounts of funds, but Charles did not want to be Tony's latest charity case. Still, he would need more money soon. Perhaps he could find work in this village. Charles could teach and he had learned some bartending skills from a former lover. He could play piano too, so perhaps a job in a tavern or even a brothel.

Charles turned around, careful of his ribs. He was going to get nowhere tonight. He was safe and so was David, that was what mattered for the time being. He shut his eyes and resolved to go to sleep.