Chapter 9:
AN: Words cannot express how thankful I am for all the love you guys have shown me! Thanks guys! I really appreciate it!
Two Days Later
I was my brushing my hair when I heard a knock at my door.
"Come in," I yelled.
The door opened revealing Charles and he entered my room and closed the door behind him.
"Good morning love," Charles said with a smile.
I put my brush down on my dresser and walked over to Charles and wrapped my arms his neck. Charles automatically put his hands on my waist.
"Good morning," I replied and pecked him on the lips.
"What a tease," Charles said jokingly.
"What brings you here?" I asked as I unwrapped my arms from Charles neck but Charles kept his arms around my waist.
"Has Erik been avoiding you or been annoyed with you?" Charles asked.
"He's been avoiding me like the plague, but he hasn't been annoyed with me. What's he done to you?" I asked.
"He's been rather rude to me when we train and after we train, he doesn't say a word to me," Charles replied.
"Have we done something wrong?" I asked curiously.
"No, that I know of," Charles replied.
"Maybe I should do Erik's training and I'll find out why he's mad at us. You should do the children's training today," I suggested.
"Good idea, I'll see you downstairs," Charles said and quickly gave me a sweet kiss on the lips before leaving my room.
Everyone at the breakfast table were abuzz except for three people Charles, Erik, and I. It seemed we were having an awkward staring contest and no one was winning. After breakfast was done everyone split up for their training sessions and I started following Erik who had a gun in his hand.
"Why are you following me Adele?" Erik asked harshly.
"I'm going to train you instead of Charles," I answered.
"Oh joy," Erik said sarcastically.
"Why are you so rude to Charles and I?" I asked and grabbed his arm and he stopped.
"You two should know," Erik stated.
"Erik, don't make me read your mind. I'll do it if that's the only way I'll get answer out of you," I said as I slowly raised my fingers to my temple.
Erik grabbed me by the shoulders, "I saw you and Charles kiss! I wanted to be one to kiss you not Charles! I've known you longer and yet Charles kisses you before I can! Adele, as soon as we were reunited I fell for you again, I love you but I see you don't return those feelings," Erik said hurt and he let go of me.
Wide eyed and shocked, I open and closed my mouth trying to form words, but I was truly lost for words. Erik turned around stormed away from me. I quickly jogged to keep up with him.
Erik and I walked out the mansion and onto one of the balconies that overlooked the mansion's grounds. We stopped at the railing of a balcony.
"I've been meaning ask, what's the gun for?" I asked.
"Not planning on shooting anybody, right?" I joked trying to lighten up the atmosphere.
Erik didn't crack a smile but he handed me the gun.
"Shoot me," He said plainly.
"Erik, have you gone mad! I know you saw Charles and I kiss but this is a bit extreme," I said incredulously.
"Adele, it's perfectly fine. So, for heaven's sake, just do it!" Erik said impatiently.
"Are you sure?"
Erik nodded. "I'm sure," he replied, grinning as I pointed the gun inches from his forehead. Reluctance danced across my face and the gun trembled slightly in the air as I steeled myself.
"No, no I can't," I said lowering the gun. "I'm sorry but I can't shoot anyone point blank—especially not you,"
"Oh, come on," he said, pulling my hand back up to point the gun at his head. "You know I can deflect it. You're always telling me to challenge myself,"
I lowered the gun again. "If you know you can deflect it, you're not challenging yourself,"
I sighed at the disappointment on his face. "Fine, fine," I relented. "If you are certain…"
He grinned for a moment before I raised the gun.
In a quick, fluid movement, I clicked off the safety, raised the gun to my temple, and fired.
"No!" Erik shouted, hand raised, eyes wide.
And I laughed, lowering the gun. The bullet remained frozen beside me head before I plucked it from the air and held it in my palm before pocketing it.
"How's that for pushing you?" I asked with a wide grin.
Erik was not as amused. "Don't do that!" he exclaimed. "What if I hadn't stopped it in time? What if I didn't see you raise the gun until it was too late?"
I smiled at his concern and patted his shoulder. "Oh, I have faith in you. I knew you wouldn't let that happen,"
He gave me an unamused glance.
"Whatever happened to the man who tried to raise a submarine?" I asked, offering him the firearm.
"Oh, I can't," he replied tiredly, taking the gun. "Something that big, I need the situation, the anger,"
"No," I disagreed. "The anger is not in there,"
"Well, it's gotten the job done," Erik replied. "All this time,"
"You can do it this time," I told him and glanced away. "No, come here. Let's try something a little more challenging,"
I pointed toward the satellite dish in the distance. "See that? Try turning it to face us,"
Erik took a deep breath and tried. I could sense the determination pouring from his mind without even trying. He continued until he was red in the face and slumped against the stone railing.
"You know, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity," I told him. Erik looked at me.
"Do you mind if I…?" I motioned to my temple.
Erik shook his head slightly, curious.
Closing my eyes, I delved into his mind, sifting through memories, deep into his past until…
There Erik was as a little boy, with his parents standing before a lit menorah; his mother smiled lovingly to him and caressed his cheek gently...
I wiped a tear from my cheek before opening my eyes to look at him.
"How did you just do that?" he asked calmly, though I could see him holding back tears.
"I accessed the brightest corner of your memory system," I explained. "It's a very beautiful memory, Erik. Thank you,"
"I didn't know I still had that," Erik admitted. The warmth in the memory, the love for his mother, the aching longing for his family...
My heart clenched and I grasped his hand.
"There is so much more to you than you know," I told him sincerely. "Not just pain and anger. There's good too—I felt it. If you can access all of that, you'll possess a power no one can match. Not even me. So come on," I said with an encouraging smile. "Try again!"
He turned back to the satellite and stretched out a shaking hand, with tears still in his eyes. The satellite creaked loudly...and turned.
A wide smile split his face and he leaned on the stone railing again as he laughed. I felt a matching, proud smile upon my own face as I chuckled with him.
"Knew you could do it," I said proudly.
Without thinking, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against Erik's. Erik's eyes widened for a fraction of second, but he didn't pull away. He kissed back, wrapping his arms around my waist. When we pulled back, Erik grinned but I was frozen in shock.
"Oh God, what have I done? I going to ruin Charles and Erik's friendship," I thought.
I jerked back into reality when Moira's voice was heard from the window.
"Hey, the president's about to make his address! You'd better come inside,"
I cleared my throat. "Indeed. Come on, Erik," as I walked away and went inside the mansion.
Everyone was gathered in the living room, surrounding the television. Erik took a seat in one of the armchairs as the president's image appeared on the television screen.
For days, they'd been monitoring all television and radio news reports. All the reports said the same thing—the world was in the middle of what people were calling, 'The Cuban Missile Crisis.' People were panicking, stocking up on food and having drills should their fears of a nuclear war come to pass. And everyone here at the mansion were the only ones who knew that Shaw was behind it all.
"It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile crossing the embargo that surrounds Cuba, as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States," said the president.
"That's where we'll find Shaw," Erik said, as the president continued.
"How do you know?" Moira asked.
"Two superpowers are facing off, and he wants to start World War Three," Charles explained. "He won't leave anything to chance,"
"And neither will we," Erik said, as he rose up. "I suggest you all get a good night's sleep right after dinner, for tomorrow we take the fight to Shaw. You'll need all your strength,"
I started to leave the living along with everyone else but Erik grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, Charles raised one of his eyebrows at us.
"Meet me in the nuclear bunker," Erik said.
He didn't wait for my response. Erik walked out of the living room.
"What was that about, love?" Charles asked.
"Nothing, just talking about tomorrow," I lied.
"Are you sure?" Charles questioned.
"Positive," I lied again and quickly left the room.
"Why are we in the nuclear bunker? This is where's Alex trains?" I asked.
"We're working on your powers," Erik stated.
The blood drained from my face.
"Erik you can't be serious. You saw what happened last week and I put Charles in a coma from reading my mind," I said.
Erik pushed the mannequins that Alex used for target practice against the wall; their burned corpses made the long room seem like a mausoleum. Long metal rods were in a pile on the floor as well as a series of metal balls that resembled the ones used for bowling.
"We have work to do. You are not as controlled as you'd like to believe," Erik said.
His voice was soft and low but it echoed around the nuclear bunker.
"Last week proves that. So you need to practice just as much as the rest of us do," Erik began to walk towards me slowly, I tensed.
"You can control the Phoenix," He said, his voice was rough and gravely.
I shook my head, "I can't,"
"You did all these years,"
I shook my head again. "I can't do it Erik," I repeated.
Erik stopped. His eyes searched my face for a moment.
"It's not that you can't, it's that you're scared of what will happen. You're scared of your own powers,"
"And I have every right to be," I said angrily.
A shadow crossed his face and then he was running. I had a split second to realize that he was going to collide with me before he did. We both hit the floor and my head smashed against the tile. Pain shot through my skull and blood pooled in my mouth. And then I couldn't breathe. Erik's hands were around my throat, he was choking me. I tried to struggle but couldn't, my legs were being held in place by the metal rods. They were on top of my arms and legs, pushing me into the floor.
"Use your power," Erik growled.
I spluttered my vision began to get spotty; Erik's face began to fade in and out. And then it stopped. My airways were free and I took a deep breath. I opened my eyes and flames pulsed in my eyes, spreading to cover the whites and the pupils. I stood up slowly and I began to laugh menacingly but that wasn't my laugh. Erik was across the room, his body in a heap. There was an Erik shaped dent in the far wall of the bunker. Erik slowly started turning over.
"Adele?" His eyes opened slowly and he winced.
"I must thank you Mr. Lehnsherr for letting me free. I can't tell you how long I've been trapped in there," the Phoenix crooned.
"What have you have done with Adele?" Erik asked as he winced in pain.
"She's somewhere in my mind, but lets not focus on her shall we," the Phoenix lulled.
The Phoenix slowly started walking towards Erik and I was helpless to stop it. The Phoenix raised my hand and sparks started trickle over my fingertips. Soon a ring of flames leap up around the edges of the room.
"Adele! Adele please!" Erik yelled. "Adele, for nothing but my love, listen to me!"
My head tipped in his direction, a faint line creasing my brow.
"Adele, come back to me!" Erik pleaded.
"Erik?" The flames abruptly cleared from my eyes, and there was nothing but green again and the flames around the room died down.
I ran over to Erik. I fell to my knees and rolled him over all the way. I brushed a strand of hair out of his face and let my palm linger on his cheek.
"You tossed me across the room," He said, shocked.
"I almost killed you! I let the Phoenix out! We're suppose to control it!" I threw my arms around his body and clutched him tightly.
"You used your powers to toss me across the room," I let go of him and looked down at him. A smile slid across his face.
"Erik you can't ignore what just happened! I let the Phoenix out again!" I shouted.
"But I calmed you down, and no one was hurt," Erik answered.
I shook my head and helped him stand up. Blood trickled down the side of his face.
"You're bleeding," I stated.
"It's just a scratch," He waved my concern away. I reached up and ran my hand through his hair. It came away bloody.
"That's more than a scratch. I could have cracked your skull in half you idiot!" I drove my fist into his shoulder.
He winced again and glared at me.
"Come with me, we have to get you cleaned up," I took his hand and dragged him out of the room.
I led him to my room and then into my bathroom I closed the bathroom door shut and I pushed him onto the edge of the bathtub.
"Sit still," I ordered and he did immediately.
I rummaged in my closet and pulled out a washcloth. I held it under the stream of the sink and rung it out. Then I bent down and held it to his head. I ran the washcloth over his scalp, washing away the blood. My fingers played through his hair, moving it so I had better access to the skin below. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of my fingers on his non-injured scalp.
"Do you now?" I asked smiling.
"What do you mean?" Erik asked.
"Like the feeling of my fingers in your scalp," I said still smiling.
Erik's face turned a slight shade of red, "Stay out, my head," Erik said.
Erik hissed when the cloth made contact with the opening in his scalp.
"Would you please sit still?" He glared up at me and did as I commanded.
I set the cloth down after I finished cleaning his wound and raised my hand over the injured part of his scalp.
"What are you about to do?" Erik asked.
"I'm going to heal your scalp with one of my acquired mutations," I replied.
His scalp slowly started lace itself up again.
"Take your shirt off," I said.
"What?" Erik said confused.
"I need to heal your bruises," I said.
Erik slowly took off his shirt and I took a quick moment to admire the hard plane's of Erik's chest. I put my hands on Erik's back and slowly the purple from the bruises were slowly fading away. When I was finished the tension in his shoulders lessened. I grabbed Erik's face and investigated his scalp one more time. My hand lingered on his temple for a moment, my eyes burning into his.
"Thank you," He said stiffly.
I hopped away from him, and went to the sink to rinse the blood off the cloth.
"It was the least I could do," I said jokingly. "After all, I almost killed you,"
Erik crossed the bathroom and strong arms wrapped around my waist. Erik pressed a kiss to my temple and I turned around
"Erik, I-" I started.
Erik kissed me on the lips softly for a brief moment, he was about to break away but I pulled him closer and kissed him back with much more force. The two of us kissed passionately for a few moments, and then we parted, panting slightly.
"God help me, I'm falling for two men," I thought.
AN: Sorry for the long wait but I was in a camp out of state. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!