A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I kept skipping ahead to write the training scenes.
They've been traveling for a little over half a day when they're intercepted by a patrol of the empire's TIE-fighters. Erik alerts them about a minute before the ship's radar picks it up. He's sprinting toward the cockpit almost as before he's finished speaking.
"Out of the chair," Charles hears him order when he hurriedly follows. Hank looks relieved to see him.
"Master—" he begins and Erik clenches his teeth in frustration.
"There," he says, jabbing a finger at the oncoming ships blinking on the radar. "There they are. Now get out of the chair."
Charles nods at Hank, who leaps out as if it's on fire. Erik immediately takes the seat and has their ship in evasive maneuvers before his hands even touch the controls. There's no need to be so harsh on him, Charles reprimands him. Erik spares a moment of attention to snort.
You should stand up to him, he adds to Hank, who seems terrified at the prospect. Just a little, mind. Actually you outrank him. Technically.
Only by our chain of command, Hank thinks. Who knows what kind of hierarchy he's placed us in? Charles can tell that Hank thinks he already knows though. They'll have to address that later. Best to deal with the enemy ships first. Hank's a better pilot than Charles, but he doesn't think that Erik would appreciate flying with someone he's never piloted with before at the moment, so he orders Hank to put Darwin and Alex on the starboard and port laser cannons, respectively, and rejoins Erik in the cockpit.
Erik grins at him with too many teeth; his mind is overcome with battle frenzy. Not the feral kind of course, but the kind that's cold fury and calculations, the kind that all the best generals have. Right now, he's using it to lethal effect, expertly handling their starship while also unleashing his powers at the TIE-fighters. But not to greatest effect.
"Take the controls," he says as soon as Charles slides into the co-pilot seat. Charles bites his lip and nods.
The ship's not difficult to pilot and Charles has done his fair share of piloting when it had been just him and Erik traveling together. He grips the controls tightly when the ship shakes from a glancing hit, though probably not as much as it would have if Erik hadn't been steadying it. The TIE-fighters whiz around them, followed by bright beams of lasers. One of them explodes on the right hand corner of the viewing screen and he can feel Alex's delighted whoop in his mind.
He's doing a tolerable job of dodging blasts and giving Alex and Darwin good chances to shoot when it occurs to him that they're still not using their abilities the best way. He taps Erik's mind gently and feels Erik's concentration falter for a moment. Erik knows what he's thinking in a second though and opens his mind and invites Charles in.
And this. This is perfect. Their minds fit together like a latch clicking into place and Charles thinks blearily that it all feels so cliché, so otherworldly to find someone whose mind felt right the way Erik's did. They fly and destroy the TIE-fighters with elegant precision, as one. Their power reaches out and out and calls to the metal of the starships careening all around them and they obey, flowing and molding to their thoughts. And it's amazing and it's glorious, and there is no Dark anymore and there is no Light, just the Force in tandem all around them, within them.
"Charles!" Raven appears.
They manage to turn only Charles's head at her call, untangling their minds with difficulty. Raven looks from Erik to Charles, an edge of suspicion in her mind so faint that she probably doesn't even notice it. "We got them all," she reports.
"Good," Charles says, mind still buzzing from what he had just accomplished—shared—with Erik. "Though we'd better get out of here fast. They've probably already reported our position."
Charles can feel the Jedi congregating in the kitchen, congratulating Alex and Darwin on their shooting, Moira watching them with a fond smile, and barely registers the intent in Erik's mind as the door swishes shut behind Raven, and Erik's mouth is suddenly on his. "Mmph," he says, startled, before he gathers his wits and kisses him back, hard.
The universe narrows down to the awkward twist of their bodies, the feel of Erik's lips and the taste of him and oh, is that his tongue?—Charles opens his mouth obligingly—and the brush of Erik's mind on his, and it's just one long chant of CharlesCharlesCharlesCharles, on and on and on, until Charles feels the peculiar sense of their brains going cross-eyed with lack of oxygen and pulls away, feeling Erik chase after him. He draws in a long shuddering breath and hears Erik doing the same. When he looks up, Erik's staring at him, not with the lustful hunger one would expect from an ex-Sith lord but a, dare he say, tender look that should look out of place on a face whose smile terrified small children, and Charles on occasion, but only settles the burning feeling in his gut into warm contentment.
Your thoughts are babbling, Erik thinks with a touch of amusement, but also discomfort, and Charles realizes with horror that he's projecting so hard that Erik's wincing slightly at the pressure on his mind.
"Charles," Erik say and Charles wants to kiss him again at his tone, and he would, except that he can feel Raven approaching again.
The door slides open with a swish. "Hey, you guys—" she breaks off to eye them with more than a touch of suspicion this time "—want a drink?"
"Yes, that would be fine," Charles says, feeling Erik sigh with annoyance at the interruption.
"Great!" Raven says cheerily. "Hank says he can take over, if you want," addressing Erik for the last part.
Erik glances at Charles and shrugs, resignation and the promise of later heavy on his thoughts. "Sure. I can use a drink."
…
Once they're all gathered in the kitchen, minus Hank, Charles thinks they might as well hold a meeting. Erik agrees with him absentmindedly, half of his mind concentrating on sweeping the ship for damage and fixing what he could and the other half replaying the wet slide of their lips and tongues in an endless loop. Charles flushes and quickly reduces the connection. He thinks he sees Raven smirking at him knowingly.
"So where are we going anyways?" Sean asks.
"Well, as you all know, we need to train before we stand a chance of staging a rescue," Charles says. "It's probably not a good idea to wait too long though, or they won't be wanting a rescue."
The Jedi shudder at the implication, darkness briefly on their minds. Erik is still unconcerned though, carefully patching up some metal plating on the hull. Charles waits pointedly for his attention before continuing. "Still, at the moment, we are woefully unprepared to meet the empire's forces either in clandestine activity or all-out battle. Up until now, our operation and interventions have been small, but we also have not spent as much time as I'd have liked battle training. So, we are headed toward my family home."
Raven takes a sharp breath, though Charles can tell the idea of it being their destination had occurred to her. "Home? Are you sure, Charles?"
"It's the best place for training," Charles says firmly. "We won't be bothered there."
"How do you know for sure?" Moira asks.
"The Xavier family owns the planet," Raven says before he can answer.
"You own a planet," Alex says in disbelief into the ensuing silence.
"It's really only half a planet," Charles says, feeling embarrassed and not knowing why. It's not his fault he owns a planet—half a planet. One of Erik's eyebrows quirk upwards.
"It's probably not even the miserable half, is it?" he asks. "What's it called?"
"Westchester," Charles replies.
Sean makes a face. "What a weird name."
Charles shrugs. His father had named it. "It's on the Outer Rim and it's completely uninhabited, except for when my family lived there and whatever servants we kept. The point is," he says, trying to reel the conversation back to a useful point, "The point is that it's the perfect place to train."
Erik's frowning thoughtfully. "I've certainly never heard of it. It could hardly be any worse than any other place we could hide out in. How long until we arrive?"
"Should probably take about another day," Charles says. "As long as we don't run into any problems. We should take the time to discuss how we're going to use the training time to best effect, as we're on a tight schedule."
There's a flurry of nods. "As you all know, to be able to fight efficiently, you need to have the necessary skill with the lightsaber and proper knowledge of the Force. As the most experienced, Erik and I will be honing your abilities."
What? Erik gapes at him, as similar thoughts of surprise and dismay resound from the Jedi. You want me to teach them?
"Erik is a better swordsman than I, so it makes sense for him to be the one to train you," Charles says. He pauses. You are a better swordsman, right?
Erik crosses his arms. Probably, he admits grudgingly.
"I will be training you in using the Force, teaching you how to control your powers, which I know that you all need to work on," Charles continues. "And I expect you to continue with your meditation exercises, of course."
They don't even like me, Erik thinks petulantly.
That's because you frighten them, Charles points out reasonably. Erik sighs.
"You need to learn how to control your powers," Charles says. "I thought we had time, before. But now, there are people who need our help, and we're not ready. I expect a lot from you, I know. But I have no doubt that you're able to do what needs to be done." And it's true. They may be young, but they're not untested, not completely anyway. They all have field experience, though Charles suspects there's still a lot Erik can teach them. More than Charles can teach them anyways, as his experience is little better than their's.
But he can't teach them anything if they don't respect him. Something had happened, Charles knows, between Erik and the Jedi before Erik had been arrested. He hasn't gotten the story out of anyone yet, but a bond that hadn't been there had been formed between them. It's not a strong bond, but it's there and it's better than nothing. Still, it's high time for Charles to sit down with them and have a long discussion on his adopting a Sith lord, as Raven had once put it.
Can you go take over for Hank, Erik? Charles asks, trying not to feel guilty about sending Erik away. After all, Erik himself had suggested that he have this discussion with them. I need to talk to the Jedi.
Erik just nods, probably already having gotten the gist of Charles's thoughts. Charles really needed to separate their minds. Or at least build better shields.
Now why would you want to do that? Erik asks and grins at Charles's exasperated response of privacy and ethics.
It's only wrong if I don't give consent, Charles. And I told you: you never need to be anything less than who you are.
Charles sighs and gives up arguing. Erik's as stubborn as he is when it comes to his beliefs. He doesn't separate their minds though, and there's a hint of smugness in Erik's eyes that says he thinks that he's won.
"Good work on the cannons today," Erik says cheerily in Alex and Darwin's general direction as he heads toward the cockpit.
The door slides shut on their surprised faces. Charles grins.
You weren't mindfucking him just now, were you? Raven thinks at him with a hint of horror. Charles chokes on his spit. Because you two were staring into each other's eyes and he was looking so smug when he left. You'd better not have been, Charles. Tell me you weren't!
I wasn't! Charles thinks forcefully at her and is saved from explaining by Hank's arrival. He can feel Erik's soft chuckle in his head. And concentrate on flying, you, he chides him.
Now that his Jedi are assembled, Moira leaning on the counter, Charles finds himself at a loss for how to begin. He should have had this discussion as soon as he'd arrived back at the temple. It's just that there'd just been so much to do then that he'd kept putting it off. Always thinking he'd have more time.
It's fine, Charles. It's easier to just start rather than thinking about what you should have done.
"I'm sorry," Charles says when everyone is seated and watching him expectantly; it seems important to start with an apology.
Raven tilts her head curiously. "What for?"
"I should have had a talk to you about Erik as soon as I got back to the temple," Charles says. The mood doesn't dim quite as much as he had expected on hearing Erik's name. "I know your feelings on the subject, and I understand how you feel."
Raven straightens out of her slouch and asks, the others apparently willing to let her be their spokesperson, "And how do we feel?"
Charles is a little thrown by the question. "Well, you distrust him and think he's dangerous, obviously."
"And?"
"And?" Charles repeats. "Is there anything more? You have hardly spent a lot of time with him." Once again, he wonders what had happened on Erik's trip to the city with the Jedi.
"He's not all bad," Raven mutters. Charles raises an eyebrow at her and she looks annoyed. "I mean, he's not as evil as we thought he was." And you seem to like him, she adds mentally. A lot.
"I'm not ruling out the possibility that he could still double cross us," Hank says, "but for now, I can't exactly say that we don't need his help either."
"Yeah, I bet the guy's wicked with a lightsaber," Alex says. Sean and Darwin nod in agreement.
"So you don't have a problem with him staying with us?" Charles asks, barely able to refrain from grinning. "Moira?"
Moira sighs. "I don't know, Charles. I've spent even less time in his company than these guys have. All I have to go on are the past hours and that one Council meeting."
Charles winces slightly, remembering that fiasco. "You can't really judge him on that alone."
"I know," Moira says. "I'll save my opinion for when I know him better. I can say this though: whatever you're planning to do will go a lot better for you if he's on your side."
"We're going to be living in close quarters for awhile," Charles says. "There'll be plenty of chances for us all to get to know each other."
Some of us better than others, hmm? Raven grins, the outer layers of her mind filled with thoughts of Erik. Charles shakes his head.
And here I was worrying that you wanted him gone.
If we had told you that we could never trust him and that we truly, honestly think he's planning on double crossing us and it's in our best interests to get rid of him, would you have agreed?
Charles hesitates. …I don't know, he finally admits. Maybe if they were truly sincere in their belief. But Charles also finds it difficult to believe that Erik is still with them in order to help the empire. After all, he's seen Erik's mind; he knows that there is more to Erik than darkness, and that he's strong enough to escape the clutches of the Dark.
Exactly, Raven thinks, the thought feeling oddly sad.
Hank offers to take over from Erik in the cockpit when the rest of the Jedi are preparing to sleep. They're about five or six hours away from Westchester at this point, but exhaustion has finally caught up to them. Hank's feeling guilty that he'd been with the others instead of piloting, as Erik's been sitting in the pilot's seat for at least six hours. Charles feels his own twinge of guilt as he listens to Hank awkwardly asking Erik if he'd like to take a break; he'd fallen asleep lost in thought at the kitchen table. Hank yawns twice before he finishes speaking though, so Erik dismisses him curtly, saying that he'd rather not have a half-asleep pilot.
"You've been awake for just as long as I have," Hank says defiantly.
"I was unconscious for about half an hour when we got to the ship," Erik points out.
"I can take over," Charles says, before Hank can retort that that didn't count. "I took a nap for a couple of hours so it should be fine."
Erik shrugs and looks at Hank. "That's fine with me."
"Alright," Hank says, turning to leave, suddenly hit with relief to escape the pointless argument. Charles is glad to see that Hank's taking his advice to stand up to Erik to heart though. It would be impossible for the Jedi and Erik to build any sort of sturdy relationship if Erik simply bulldozed over them whenever he wanted something. "Good night, Master." Charles nods. Sleep well, Hank. There's a short pause before he adds, "Good night, Erik."
Erik freezes, briefly taken aback, but he replies, "Good night, Hank."
Erik's still for a moment after the door closes behind Hank, but then he stands up, all cat-like grace and stretches. Charles drags his eyes away from his lithe form and takes the vacated seat, preparing himself for hours of monotony by himself—not that he wants it to be broken by meeting another patrol. He's thus pleasantly surprised when Erik settles into the co-pilot chair beside him and leans his head back, eyes closed.
"You're not going to sleep?" Charles asks.
Erik cracks open an eye to look at him and shuts it again. "What do you think I'm doing right now?" he asks mildly.
"Why don't you go sleep in the quarters? It'll be more comfortable there," Charles says.
"The Jedi and Moira have taken up all the beds," Erik says and Charles blinks at his sudden, irrational disappointment at the answer. The padded seats in the cockpit are more comfortable than the hard plastic ones in the kitchen, so it'd make more sense for him to sleep here, of course—
"Charles," Erik says, and Charles can tell that he's debating whether it's worth it to open his eyes just to roll his eyes at Charles. "The company's better here."
"Oh," Charles says, not bothering to hide his happiness. He doesn't want to disturb Erik's respite further though; it's been a trying day for all of them, and half an hour of unconsciousness through over-exertion of his powers is definitely not enough rest. He stares idly at the radar screen.
Erik mumbles something and Charles starts. He'd thought that Erik had fallen asleep. "I'm sorry?"
Erik sighs gustily and lifts his head to look at Charles. "I said, I wanted to stay with you."
Charles can't help but smile at the sleepy look on Erik's face and wonders, considering the similar state of Erik's mind, if he will even remember this when he wakes up. A soft snore interrupts his musings and he looks at him fondly, reaching out to soothe away the nightmares that haunt the edges of Erik's subconscious.
When Westchester finally blinks into view, a tiny glowing orb hanging in space, Charles finds that he's spent most of the trip watching Erik sleep, the way his eyelashes flutter slightly sometimes and the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
Charles hasn't seen the planet in years. Home but not home. He doesn't bother trying to dispel the feeling of bitterness. Then he glances toward Erik still in peaceful slumber next to him.
But perhaps it still could be.
A/N: Crossposted to the Archive, as always.