When Erik woke up there was a toddler staring at him.
It was an enchanting child, from what Erik could see, though that wasn't much. The bed was so tall that he could only see a set of very blue eyes and sleep messy, ink-coloured hair. But the eyes were wide and innocent with impossibly long lashes and the skin was smooth and porcelain pale. A beautiful little boy.
"Are you my uncle?"
Erik blinked blearily and scrubbed at the sleep crusting his eyes, only to wince at the spike of pain it sent through his skull. "What?" he grunted, poking experimentally at the goose-egg at the base of his head. Ouch, not a good idea.
"Are you my uncle? I've never met my uncle. Spiderman has an uncle and he was the best. I have an uncle too but Da says that he lives far away and can't come see me."
"...Yea sure kid, whatever you say." He really didn't feel up to dealing with this. His head ached, his body ached, he had to piss. All in all he felt rather like...he'd jumped off a train and dragged through a forest as a matter of fact.
"...Because if you were it would be awesome! Do you have a present for me? Uncles are supposed to bring presents right?"
"I'm not your uncle kid. Where's your father then?"
"I'll call him!" and the kid scrunched his eyes shut, screwed up his face and put his fists to his ears. Erik stared blankly, waiting for any of this to make sense.
"Uhm...kid...so are you going to get your father or do I have to wander around until I find someone."
Blue eyes sprang open and the boy pouted cutely, "My name isn't kid, my name is David! And my Da's coming because I'm thinking about him coming."
Okay so he was dealing with a crazy child. Erik was in the process of maneuvering his feet to the ground, swaying with lightheadedness when a voice from behind him called out, "David my love, what are you doing up? It's far too early."
An impish grin flashed across the boy's face, dimpling his cheeks and then he flew to the door where the man from the night before, Xavier he'd introduced himself as sat in a high-tech looking wheelchair. David launched himself at the man babbling at top speed. "Da, Da there's a man in your bed. Is he my uncle Da? Is he going to live with us."
Xavier pulled the child into his lap and tried in vain to smooth out his bird nest of hair, "Sweetheart we've talked about this," he tutted, "Your uncle lives too far away to visit. Now, go back upstairs and read your books, and read your books, I'll make you some toast in a bit"
The boy huffed and puffed and pulled the most devastating puppy dog face Erik had ever seen but Xavier chucked his chin and pushed him gently out of the room.
"So you've met my son." Xavier said evenly when the patter of tiny feet had faded into the distance, "I'm sorry if he woke you, he'll have been looking for me. Little mite will talk your ear off if you let him get started."
"He's...a charming boy."
"He's the light of my life." the man's whole aura suddenly shifted, and Erik previously would not have believed that he would find a small British man in wheelchair intimidating, but Xavier managed it. His eyes, which Erik saw were just as blue as his son's bored into him, and Erik felt the overwhelming urge to look down, managed to fight it down and stare levelly back.
"I mean your family no harm." he said quietly, "I came last night seeking sanctuary only. I will leave."
The other man considered him silently for a long minute, so long that Erik felt an uncomfortable prickling in his spine. He had the intense feeling of being stripped bare under those eyes, and laid open to the world. It was an alien feeling, after years of dedicating himself to revealing nothing, and he couldn't help but squirm.
Xavier nodded once to himself, seeming to have reached some sort of conclusion. And his face split into a warm, genuine smile. "Well then my friend, let me check that bump of yours, then if you'll join me for breakfast, I'd love to hear any of your story that you're willing to share."
The walk, shuffle really as his tumble then drag through the several miles of forest had taken more of a toll than he liked to admit even to himself, from the bedroom to the kitchen left Erik embarrassingly winded. He sat at the large island recovering while Xavier, who'd cheerfully insisted that Erik call him Charles, bustled about fixing tea and bagels.
The blurred memories of the night before, of the hours spent struggling through the wilderness, inch by agonizing inch came back to Erik in bits and prices. He recalled the world filtering down to one thing, the feeling of the hulking metal structure- which he now realized was the modern additions of this house, this mansion. He'd dragged his broken body through the forest and onto this man's front step.
The metal that he'd felt wasn't actually part of the main building, which was made of wood and stone but rather the newer, more modern additions such as this cavernous kitchen. But Erik could still feel the magnitude of the home by the multitude of brass detail and he even sensed a bit of rich, heavy goldwork here and there. The building spread around him in all directions, upwards to four stories at its peak, and sprawling across hundreds upon hundreds of square feet. Erik even felt the pull of a reinforced sub-basement of some sort, and an underground room full of so much metal that reminded him eerily of Shaw's laboratory.
Xavier had said that he was a doctor.
However the man himself couldn't have been more different of he tried. Where Shaw was slick and oozed charisma, this Charles Xavier character was humble and even bumbling. Erik tried to watch him without looking like he was watching him. The man was dressed in the same ridiculous maroon dressing gown as he'd been the night before, and the legs of blue pinstripe flannel pajamas peeked out from under the hem. On his feet were soft looking beige slippers, the left one had a hole in the toe. There was what appeared to be a chocolate stain on the robe as well.
He was talking about something or other, something science that Erik's brain isn't quite up to following right now. But his eyes do follow the movement of Xavier's hands as they weave through the air, alternately punctuating a sentence and spreading butter across a piping hot bagel. The way he talked about his work was vastly different as well, where Shaw had always been cool and to the point, professional to the core, Xavier's pale cheeks were flushed with excitement, eyes slightly unfocused while he recited the words like a prayer.
Xavier set the plate piled with bagels-and a couple scones- down in front of Erik, along with a mug of fragrant tea. "Oh yes," the man chirped in his posh accent, "There's also the matter of the front door. If you'd take a look at it as soon as you feel well enough, I'd be much obliged if you'd return it to the way it was before. As it stands it'll stir up some awkward questions."
Confusion, then horrific, paralyzing comprehension. Erik rose from the counter on shaky legs, ready to pull all the metal in the room to him, ready to put it through Xavier's chest if he needed to. It was a shame that he had a son, but Erik couldn't afford to be soft.
"Oh my friend." Xavier murmured, blue eyes wide and imploring "There's no need for that. I am your ally I swear." then his hand went to his temple, slowly as if Erik were a skittish animal, and pressed two fingers there. All at once there's a voice in Erik's head, as loud and clear as if there was someone speaking lowly in his ear, "please calm your mind Erik, I am like you."
Ah, the man was a telepath. This was just getting worse and worse. "Excuse me if that doesn't exactly calm me but I've had some rather unpleasant experiences with telepaths. Now get the hell out of my head!" To emphasize his point he sent a sharp bard of intent outwards, and was rewarded with a surprised flinch from the man.
"Unpleasant experiences...you mean to say that there are others? That you've met other telepaths?" Xavier gasped, hunching over in his chair like the news was a physical blow.
"Just one." Erik snarled, struggling to keep his anger high in order to keep all the metal at attention, "And she's a regular bucket of sunshine. But that's not important, what did you see when you were in my head? What did you steal from me?"
In a fashion that Erik was beginning to think was typical of the man, Xavier ignored the question completely, "Bucket of sunshine? You're being sarcastic I assume, so does this mean that the other telepath's gift hurt? what's her name? Where does she live? If she's within my range I could contact her and we could compare abilities! I wonder if she-"
"Shut up!" Erik snapped, feeling the rush of adrenalin that had propelled him from his seat beginning to drain, leaving him sore and exhausted. "And tell me what. Did. You. See."
Xavier combed his hand through his chestnut hair and leaned back to gaze at Erik calmly. The look made Erik slam down as many mental walls as he was capable of building, sure that the man must be reading him as they spoke. Emma's powers had always been detectable by the sensation of ice forming on one's thoughts, very similar to a brain-freeze. For anyone who didn't know what it was it could pass off as an unusual headache. But when this man had spoken in his mind Erik had felt no warning whatsoever. This man was dangerous.
"Erik, I swear to you," Xavier said slowly, face open and painfully honest, "I have not read your thoughts even once while you've been here. I've been keeping tabs on your emotions only, just to make sure that you meant no harm to me or my family. And you don't. You are frightened and you feel cornered but you don't want to hurt me. Please calm your mind and we can talk."
Erik should kill him, this was more than risky this was down right hazardous. This man knew about Erik's abilities, and worse yet he was a mind reader. He could pluck his secrets from his head like nothing at all, like he was choosing the ripest apple in the bin to devour. It wouldn't be difficult to get rid of him, he was a cripple for gods sake! Even if he fought back psychically Erik felt confident that he could fend him off long enough to get metal into him. And of the other residents of the house, so far Erik had only seen the child. The tiny, helpless little boy. Erik hadn't ever had to kill a child before, but this was a special case-
And then he was sent crashing to the tiles, his grip on the metal severed completely. Xavier rolled closer, his slippered feet inches from Erik's face and he said, voice suddenly cold, "The next time I feel your malicious intent shift away from me and toward my son, I will turn you brain to pulp, no matter how distasteful I find the action. Do you understand Erik? It's all good and well for you to hold knives to my throat, but leave David be. He's a harmless child."
"Not to me, he's seen my face."
"He'll barely remember you. He's three, give it a week and you'll be completely out of mind."
Erik struggled to his knees. His ears were ringing and his thoughts feel sluggish. He couldn't feel any metal at all. "M-my powers," he choked, "What have you done?"
"Think of it like flicking a switch." Xavier said evenly, "Right now it's in the off position. I only need to turn it back and your abilities will return. But I could do it again, just as easily. I won't want to, but if you threaten my child I will be forced to." and with that his powers are back, and he had a knife to Xavier's throat.
The man didn't even flinch and they stare at each other, neither one blinking.
"I can give you this," Xavier finally broke the silence, "Stay a couple days, recover. I will not tell anyone that you are here, in fact, I can dissuade any strangers who come into the area from coming to the house. I will not go any further into your mind than I already have, your secrets are your own. But I would still like to hear your story, anything that you'd willingly tell me and no more. If you still feel, at the end of your stay, that we are threats to you, I will wipe the memories of you from my own child's mind. Please find it in yourself to trust me Erik, you are safe here, I only ask that you not harm David."
Erik's vision had begun to blur, and he realized that refusing this man would be foolish to the extreme. His injuries would make traveling almost impossible, and here was a sanctuary where he could grow stronger in relative peace. This man appeared to be powerful, but that could work in Erik's favour. He claimed he could keep people away.
"Fine." Erik said, dragging himself back up into the stool. "Just don't...read my mind. Ever."
"Don't give me a reason to, and I'm sure we'll get along splendidly."