Chapter 2

It had been three weeks since Charles had been shot and he was now sitting fully clothed in a wheelchair to which he argued about persistently but he was not strong enough to walk more than the three steps to the small bathroom on one side of his room and even then Erick had to help him to the door (Charles was adamant he could go by himself) he hadn't yet had a shower but just sponge baths everyday which he hated because the nurse who did them had a nasty habit of imagining rather graphic situation conspiring between her and Erick who was either outside the door of Charles' room or in the cafeteria getting coffee, Charles told himself that he didn't care that the woman liked Erick but that he just didn't like having to think of his friend like that, which was a total lie and Charles knew that but he wanted to focus on getting better physically before trying to decipher his rather complicated feelings towards his best friend.

He felt as though before the rather dramatic events that had conspired over the last six months he would have taken being shot much more seriously, not that he was not taking it seriously but he did not feel as distort and angry as he would have done before he had practically adopted three teenagers, he knew he would get better and that he would be able to walk and live as normal life as you can when you can read minds, so he was not terribly concerned, which, ironically, terribly concerned him.

Charles was going home, and it really was home now, he had real memories of happiness and joy in the Xavier house rather than memories of superficial parties and his parents pretending they cared in front of company.

"How will you be getting home Mr Xavier?" the soft voice of his nurse pulled Charles from his musing.

"I believe we are catching a flight at three." He replied charmingly.

"You've been a brilliant patient" she smiled coyly, Charles was bombarded with rather embarrassing thoughts but he was very good at pretending not to notice, so he just smiled back.

Luckily the awkward tension is the room that only Charles was aware of was diminished by Erick's entrance.

"Are you ready to go Charles?" Erick asked casually as he picked up Charles' bag.

"I am, my friend" Charles said with a smile, he was dying to get home and not have to worry about what the children were getting up to or if he was accidently answering someone's thoughts instead of their voice, when fully conscious and sober he had honed reading thoughts and not answering them to a T but when he was tried, in pain and under the influence of morphine the distinction had become a lot harder, he found Erick's thoughts the hardest to ignore mostly because for the past three weeks they had been a constant presents in his mind but it was also the nature of his thoughts, of course Charles had tried to not invade his friends privacy but there were many moments that he slipped and heard the jist of his best friends thoughts, this threw him in to turmoil about his ever so confusing feelings that surrounded Erick.

As a result of Charles' thoughts running away with him he found himself staring into the dangerous green eyes of his best friend.

"What's the matter with you old friend? You haven't complained once about the wheelchair" Erick said mockingly, sporting a cheeky half smile that only Charles could put on his face.

"Sorry my friend, I was miles away" Charles replied whilst yawning and rubbing his face.

"I was quite enjoying the peace" Erick replied jokingly.

As the arrived in the hospital lobby the darker haired man was hit with a wave of thoughts that made him wince, an emergency had just arrived and Charles could hear his screams with his ears and he could feel them in his mind. Erick, who knew the professor exceedingly well cottoned on to the situation almost eminently and quickened his pace to the car.

Getting Charles into the car was an awkward ordeal, his wound was still causing him a considerable amount of pain, so simply lifting him in was not an option, it took a lot of shuffling and painful winces but together they did it and they set of to Miami airport.

"How come we haven't had any visits from the ?" this had been bothering Charles but he hadn't had a chance to talk to Erick about it privately.

"They are pretending that Cuba didn't happen, that we weren't there. They are using that fact you got shot to stay away, I don't think they will bother us if we keep a low profile." Erick knew that Charles would spot the lie straight away but he felt better by saying it and thankfully Charles said nothing about it.

"Did you kill Shaw?" this was a question Erick had been expecting but that did not mean he had an answer that would satisfy Charles.

"He shot you Charles, of course I killed him" Erick's voice was rock solid but his heart was beating erratically in his chest, he didn't think he could face Charles' disappointment.

"Do not use me as an excuse my friend, you were going to kill him anyway." Charles surprised himself with the level of control he had over his voice, he was not angry as he expected to be, he was sad because he hated the fact the Erik felt he needed to kill to gain peace.

"Yes Charles I was, but the fact he shot you allowed me to justify it more than revenge for my own personal gain" Erick stated coolly, he did not want to fight with Charles but he would fight his corner if he had to.

"Okay my friend." Charles was an intelligent man and he knew when he was beaten and the more aggressive side of him was screaming 'what if it was Erick?'

The flight to New York was an uneventful one, but Charles could barely contain his excitement to see the children again. Raven was the first to embrace the dark haired man, she had missed him wickedly as he had been the biggest constant in her life for a long time and being apart from his sadden her. The others were a bit more awkward as they didn't not do very well at expressing their feelings but Charles knew they missed him all the same (being able to read their minds helped)

Everyone was gathered in the what used to be the formal living room but had been cunningly renamed the den by Alex who had insisted that they needed table tennis and a foosball table to liven the place up a bit and Charles being the softy that he was had allowed it. Everyone was there; the conversation was not exceptionally riveting but everyone was enjoying the atmosphere that Charles homecoming had created; raven sat on the arm of the sofa next to hank who was explaining his latest idea to her. Alex and Sean were playing table tennis rather violently. Charles was still in his wheelchair but it was pulled right up next to one of the plush sofas on which Erick sat, he was exceptionally tired, in the past three weeks he had not had a solid night's sleep, he slept in the car they had acquired most nights and other he spent just pacing to hospital corridors clutching to lukewarm coffee as if was the answer to life itself. Charles had insisted many times that he was a grown man who could stay in hospital by himself but Erick was a stubborn man, the metal bender was simply enjoying the relief that came with Charles' return.

"As much as I would like to just sit here all night I am in desperate need of a bath and a good long sleep." Even though the dark haired man had not spoken loudly everyone in the room heard him; they all reacted by say goodnight and displaying their affections in various ways; raven hugged him tight, hank shook his hand and told him it was nice to have him back, Alex threw his a nod and said 'night prof' as he wondered of to his bedroom for the night, but most surprising was Sean who gave Charles an awkward one armed hug and quickly left the room, the mind reader was touched by the love he felt for each and every one of them.

"Not tired?" Charles asked Erick who was still sat on the sofa; Charles knew for a fact the Erick was dead on his feet, he could almost taste the hue of exhaustion that clouded his closest friend's thoughts.

"I am but you said you wanted a bath" Erick replied casually, his voice was normal but his eyes were begging Charles to argue

"I am not a baby Erick I can bathe myself" even as he said the words he doubted them, he could barely stand let alone climb into a bath.

"I do not doubt your bathing abilities old friend but you have just been shot! You can't expect to be able to run be for you can walk" Erick raised his eyebrows at the younger man, daring him to challenge his logic but Charles only rolled his eyes which told Erick he had won.

Quoting me to me is unfair

Erick chuckled as he received the metal message, he had intentionally used Charles' own words against him, it seemed like so long ago that Charles had been couching them all to control and learn from their powers.

The whole bath situation was a whole lot of awkward, Charles had insisted that Erick could just lift him into the bath and that he would be able to undress whilst sitting down but this had not been as easy as he first anticipated, so eventually he had to cave and ask Erick for help, he spent the entire time with a face like a beetroot, he felt so useless and embarrassed but Erick really didn't care, nakedness did not bother him but he was respectful to Charles embarrassment and refrained from cracking jokes about his friends predicament, in actual fact it was not the nakedness that bothered Charles it was the lack of independence and if he was honest with himself it was just the humility of not being able to perform simple tasks.

All embarrassment aside the worst part of the whole ordeal was the removal of the mind readers dressings, as the bullet had entered his body just about the curve of his bottom he had yet to see the wound that the path of the bullet had left behind, he had been particularly careful not to read the minds of his nurses or doctors when it came to the physical appearance of the laceration, he was not sure why he could not face to see it but he knew he was not ready. Erick had seen so much violence in his life that a healing gunshot wound was not very traumatic but all the same it did linger in his mind.

"Could you think of something else please?" Charles sounded desperate which for a few seconds confused Erick but he quickly understood and started to translate as many songs he could think of into German.

"Thank you" the relief in Charles face and voice was evident.

Thank you for taking to time to read this!