Well, I was originally going to use this space to explain to you why exactly I started this story (I DO HAVE A PLAN, BELIEVE IT OR NOT), but then I decided I'd wait another chapter and explain it after you've read this one... :) So you'll have to wait until next week to figure that out.
Anyway. Third chapter in under four days. I'm on a roll! Well, that's because we're nearing the end of the story, and I'm having a little too much fun writing the end. So, enjoy it while it lasts!
The Perks of Being a Telepath
Chapter 47: Of Ultimatums and Idiots
Erik folded his arms across his chest and glared at Charles from across the library.
"I'm coming."
The telepath shook his head as he set down his book.
"You're barely able to stand up, let alone break into one of the most secure prisons the CIA has to offer. You're staying here."
Raven, on one of her many covert operations, had uncovered a prison on Three Mile Island where Stryker was keeping dozens of mutant children. Charles, Hank, and Sean were planning on a raid to free the children that night.
Erik, of course, wanted to come along. But earlier that week he had developed a nasty case of pneumonia, and as Charles had already said, could still barely stand up.
Coughs wracked through the metal bender's frame as he glared at Charles.
"You need help. Beast and Banshee aren't going to be enough. Stryker is angry enough without you waltzing in to free his captives."
This argument would have been far more persuasive had Erik not had to stop every other word to catch his breath.
Charles let out a weary sigh.
"No."
"I'm not a glorified babysitter, goddamnit. I'm here to help you save these mutants. I can't do that stuck in this godforsaken mansion with the children!"
The telepath leveled Erik with a glare that was part amusement, part annoyance.
"It's not that I don't want you to come, Erik. But at the moment, you'll do far more harm than good if you come along."
Erik returned the glare with all the stubbornness he could muster, which, in reality, wasn't all that effective.
"Then we wait until I can go."
Charles shook his head.
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"Because they're just children, Erik! Every second we wait is another second they're wrongfully imprisoned!"
They glared at each other for a moment, before Erik looked away and coughed.
"Fine."
Charles raised an eyebrow at the soft admission.
"Come again?"
Erik looked back to Charles, obviously defeated.
"You're right. They're kids. They shouldn't have to spend any more time than necessary in that hell hole."
Charles rose from his chair and crossed the library to clap a hand on Erik's shoulder.
"We'll only be gone a few hours. And I'll keep you in here the entire time."
He tapped a finger to his head with a slight smile.
Erik returned it hesitantly.
"If anything goes wrong…"
"I'll make sure you are able to get to Three Mile Island and cough on everyone."
The metal bender rolled his eyes, but gratitude poured off him in waves. Charles didn't need to be a telepath to know where most of Erik's anxiety lay—all too often, it was Charles who had been forced to stay behind, and he knew just how stressful it was.
Charles gently nudged Erik toward a chair by the roaring fire.
"Go sit down. I'll have Raven bring you some tea in a little while. Hank, Sean, and I should be back by midnight."
Erik nodded once.
"Charles?"
The telepath turned.
"Yes?"
"Be careful. I don't want to have to come after you again."
A week later found Charles nearly unconscious on one of Hank's lab tables, with an angered Erik looming over him, and an anxious looking Hank holding a syringe filled with a dark red liquid. Raven and Sean stood outside, looking pale and frightened.
Erik looked as though he were ready to start murdering anyone who came too close.
"You are a goddamn moron, Charles."
The telepath opened his eyes, which had been clenched shut with pain, and glared at Erik. It was a rather impressive glare, given the terrifying expression on the taller man's face.
"Shut up, Erik."
Erik threw his hands up in the air and the metal in the room vibrated ominously.
"You could have gotten yourself killed! What the hell were you thinking?"
They had just returned from an information gathering mission, during which, Charles' back had given out and he had wound up trapped in a supply closet in the CIA headquarters for over an hour.
Charles' glare intensified.
"If I hadn't gone with you, you would have gotten yourself killed."
That wasn't entirely the truth. In reality, it was because of Charles that Erik had almost gotten himself killed. When the telepath's back had given out, he had been in so much pain that he had lost control of his powers and the defenses he had carefully put into place. Erik had been almost out of the headquarters when this happened and was seen by a security guard, who proceeded to open fire with his machine gun. Luckily, Erik was able to dispatch him before going back in for Charles, while the others merely managed to escape without too much notice.
Erik snorted.
"Right. I'm sure my getting shot at was your way of trying to save my life."
It was a low, unnecessarily cruel blow that left Erik feeling immediately guilty. Charles would never purposefully endanger someone else's life, let alone Erik's, but the fact remained that by ignoring his own well-being, he had and Erik nearly paid for the mistake.
Charles sighed, visibly deflating as the fight went out of him.
"I'm sorry."
Erik growled, before storming toward Raven and Sean.
"Get out of here."
Sean immediately disappeared. Raven looked slightly more defiant, but with one rather heated glare from Erik, she too took off.
Hank looked considerably more nervous.
It was Charles' turn to growl.
"You don't need to bully everyone on account of me, Erik."
It was a not so subtle warning that the telepath was pissed off and that Erik should really think twice about his next words.
True to character, Erik ignored the warning.
"If you paid a little more attention to yourself every now and then, instead of trying to get yourself killed, then maybe I wouldn't have to."
Charles' jaw clenched.
"If you spent less time on a warpath for revenge and a little more time looking after those you care about, then maybe I wouldn't need to!"
The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees as Erik leveled Charles with his best glare.
"Don't you dare blame what happened on me. This was your fault, god damn it. You were careless and slipped up!"
"Because of what happened when you got careless and slipped up!"
Charles' pain marred what should have been a defiant shout, forcibly reminding Erik of why exactly they were here in Hank's lab in the first place. Guilt replaced the rapidly cooling anger as he looked away and slumped his shoulders.
"You're right."
The telepath sighed angrily at Erik's remorseful whisper.
"No, I'm not. And you know it."
Silence, tensed and edged fell over the lab.
Hank swallowed heavily, reminding Charles and Erik they weren't the only two in the room. They both looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and apology.
"I should probably give you the shot now."
The scientist gestured to the red serum in the syringe, which was the liquid that would restore Charles' back.
Erik and Charles exchanged one more look, this one far less charged than any of their others, and speaking far louder to what they were both feeling. The metal bender was very obviously frightened over what happened and what it could have meant in the grand scheme of things, while Charles was feeling tremendously guilty for almost getting Erik killed.
It was a silent apology, one that would never be spoken aloud.
Charles looked away first.
"All right, Hank."
Erik began edging out of the lab, but Charles' soft whisper stopped him.
"Stay."
Both Hank and Erik looked at him curiously, but the telepath merely ducked and shook his head.
The metal bender let out a weary sigh and stalked back over to the lab table. He shook his head fondly.
"You're a goddamn moron, Charles."