Erik led the way to the car, Xavier talking animatedly to the brothers behind him, and refrained from rolling his eyes. He seriously talked way too much and yet…there was something about the way he talked. A passion that made him light up. Erik shook his head, scowling. No need to think like that. Then his scowl deepened at the sight of a white piece of paper tucked under the windshield wiper of the Tahoe.

"Oh dear," Xavier said, coming up beside him. "Looks like Enforcement gave you a ticket."

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem explaining who we are to them," Scott said.

Erik walked around the other side and slid it out as Xavier said regretfully, "I don't believe it works that way, Scott."

Erik unfolded it, wondering if it would be enough to justify putting it on the expense report, and did a double take.

Blinked a couple times.

Read it again.

Erik's head snapped up and he whipped around, searching, hoping to find someone taking the slightest bit of interest in them.

"How bad is it?" Alex asked.

Xavier held out a hand. "Oh hand it over. I'll take care of it."

Erik folded it back up and said quickly, "It's fine. I'll pay it tomorrow."

"Erik, really, it's no problem. I've got the money," Xavier insisted.

But Scott had clearly heard or seen something in either Erik's voice or expression and said quietly, "It's not a ticket. Is it?"

Erik slowly shook his head, his fingers tightening on the paper. He saw Xavier start to pull his hand back, stop, then visibly steel himself and reach back out again.

Xavier asked calmly, "May I?"

Erik met his gaze, assessing. Xavier had proven to be full of surprises and Erik was impressed by his ability to keep going. Almost despite himself, Erik handed it over. He watched Xavier's eyes scan the words, once. Twice. His gaze snapped up to meet Erik's, his face now pale, and he slowly handed it to Alex.

Alex read it softly aloud. "Drop out of the race or lose your life. Holy shit…"

"In the car," Erik ordered and for once Xavier followed orders without questioning them. Maybe he was finally starting to get the seriousness of the situation. How the hell did they get to the car? One of the few places he didn't have a camera…did they know? Did whoever was behind this know where the cameras were? That was a worrying thought.

It only occurred to him as they were halfway to the apartment that he probably should have alerted the police. Not that they'd accomplished anything thus far.

Keep Xavier alive until the election. That was all that mattered.

Charles jumped at the sound of the body hitting the mats, again, and huffed out a breath. For goodness' sake, did they have to drag him along for this? He could be with Raven and her guards instead of trying to grade lab reports on the floor of the gym. This had become a regular occurrence and it seemed like every evening after that note appeared on the car, Erik had dragged them all down to the gym that the apartment complex had. Charles had access to it since he lived there but had never entered it. He was not exactly athletic material.

Erik had found it during one of his runs and the three agents came down every now and then for "training," Erik called it. Charles saw it as a way for them to hit each other without the other person getting mad. In fact, they seemed to welcome being beaten. He couldn't understand why someone would willingly want to be hit.

Although…he had been starting to wonder if he maybe shouldn't learn at least the basics of self-defense, in light of the near hit-and-run. He was just waiting for them to split off into cardio or weightlifting or something so he could get Erik on his own to ask for some training. He had no clue what Erik's response would be so he preferred to do it without an audience. Even if he did like Scott and Alex. He was rather hoping they'd remain in touch after the election. Raven and Angel got on like a house on fire and he knew she'd miss her new friends terribly, too.

Charles returned to his grading, still flinching at the sounds of their sparring. After a few minutes, he lifted his head, twisted it from side to side to get the crick in his neck out. He closed his eyes as he rubbed his neck and when he opened them Erik was looking over at him. As soon as Charles met his gaze, Erik turned away. Charles frowned.

A few minutes later, Charles caught him doing it again. What in the world…? Then he caught Scott doing it, too!

It wasn't until Erik came over and informed him they were moving to another part of the gym that it clicked in Charles' head. Ever since that note a week ago, Erik hadn't been more than five feet from him. He was concerned. Worried, even, that one of those threats might actually come true. Charles smiled to himself as he hugged his papers to his chest. To have someone other than Raven actually concerned about his wellbeing was new and made him feel warm inside. Erik's constant glances meant that he was just checking to make sure Charles was still there, still safe, and he hadn't felt this warm in a long time.

Erik put a hand on his shoulder, pointed at a corner and ordered, "Sit."

Charles did object to being ordered about like a dog, though. "You could find me a chair, you know."

Erik lifted an eyebrow which disappeared as a lock of hair fell forward over his sweaty forehead. Charles noticed, jealous, that he wasn't even breathing hard. "I need you in my sightline and there's nowhere else to put you."

"I am a human being, you know, not a piece of furniture." Charles replied evenly.

Erik sighed. "Look, it's not like you can keep up and I know you have work to do."

"So teach me," Charles replied, taking a shot.

Erik looked blindsided. "What?"

"Teach me how to defend myself. Then you won't have to worry as much."

"No."

Charles blinked at the abruptness. He'd expected it, but still… "I'm sorry?"

Erik shook his head, brushed his hair aside absently. "No."

"Why the bloody hell why not?"

"Because with the three of us around, you shouldn't need to."

"Shouldn't," Charles repeated, angry. "But I might."

"You won't," Erik assured him.

"And if we're attacked and you get overwhelmed? What am I to do then?" He liked being underestimated but this went beyond that.

Erik leveled a glare at him. "Then you run."

Charles retorted, "I am far more capable of protecting myself than you give me credit for, Erik."

Erik opened his mouth only to shut it again and study him. Charles realized he may have just obliquely referred to his unfortunate childhood. He took a breath and said calmly, "Just the basics, Erik. That's all I'm asking for."

"The answer is no, Xavier." Erik turned away, clearly deciding the conversation was over.

Charles stared after him, feeling frustrated at being turned down so thoroughly. He frowned, thinking. There had to be a way around this. His eyes caught Scott and Alex over by the bench-press machine and smirked. He would just ask them for assistance.

The smack of his fists hitting the bag was supremely satisfying, Erik decided, throwing another punch followed by a high kick. Xavier had been too accommodating the last couple days and he had the feeling the man was up to something, something Erik wasn't going to like. The no social outings discussion had gone well enough and Xavier had agreed to talk to his sister about it.

They were getting closer, the four of them. There was no getting around it, the amount of time they spent together over the past month. Erik already knew Xavier's routines, how he liked his tea, favorite books and movies, things like that. Hell, he was starting to actually understand Xavier's lectures! He hadn't known that much about his former partner. The most surprising thing about it was that Erik wasn't concerned. He didn't get close to people anymore, not in a long while.

The worst thing about exercising alone meant that you were then forced to deal with your thoughts, things that a person had no time to focus on during the day. Erik pounded the punching bag harder, driving his fists into it, feeling the sweat drip down his face and the back of his shirt. He blinked it away. Xavier got to him and, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

Erik took a step back, catching his breath, and looked over at the spot on the wall Xavier had occupied for the past thirty minutes. Only to find he was no longer there. His papers were, as well as the empty spot where the professor should be. Nein. Not happening. He couldn't lose him; Xavier was there five minutes ago! Panic shot through him and Erik started searching the gym for him.

It took him less than ten minutes to find Xavier and when he did, his anger boiled over the edge.

He stalked over to the mats, feeling immeasurably pleased when Alex caught sight of him and blanched, stepping back quickly from where Scott was helping Charles throw a punch. "What the hell is going on here!" he snapped when he was a couple feet away.

Xavier and Scott jumped apart. Scott paled and looked at the ground, while Xavier turned red but defiantly met his gaze.

"You wouldn't teach me," Xavier explained, his tone obstinate but with a hint of uncertainty.

"So you went behind my back?" Erik's voice was coldly furious.

Scott started, "Erik, he just—"

Erik cut him off. "No. He'll explain." He kept his eyes on Xavier, crossing his arms.

Xavier glanced at Scott briefly, then turned back to meet Erik's gaze confidently but spoke with the barest hint of uncertainty. "You said you wouldn't train me to defend myself. I know you said that you would always be there to protect me, and I know that you believe that. I'd like to, too. But I'm also a bit of realist and I know that it's not possible for you to be at my side every second of every day. To that end, I need to be able to keep myself safe long enough for one of you to reach me, to keep myself from any undue harm."

The most frustrating thing right now was that Xavier made a good point. Erik couldn't be there all the time. And knowing how to defend himself was a valuable skill to have, he knew. Erik gritted his teeth, ran a hand through his hair, weighing pros and cons while Scott, Alex and Xavier stood there watching him and waiting for his response. He studied Xavier and saw, despite the bravado and confidence, that the events of the past few weeks had shaken him and he was more scared than he wanted to admit. That, more than anything, cinched it.

Erik finally sighed and pointed at Xavier. "You, come with me. Summers', you two stay here. We'll be another hour." And he walked off, not waiting to see if they listened, if Xavier actually followed.

He headed right for the track on the other side of the gym and stopped. After a few seconds, Xavier came up next to him.

Erik informed him, "You want to train? Fine; I'll train you. But we do this my way, understand?" Xavier nodded and Erik continued, "It's a good thing you're in sweatpants because you're going to sweat." He took a perverse pleasure in the way Xavier's eyes drifted to the track and his face fell.

"Lesson #1: Cardio. I still maintain that your first response should be to run and you need to be able to go more than a few feet if need be."

Xavier's eyes flitted back to him. "But you will teach me to fight?"

"I will teach you to defend yourself," Erik corrected. "There's a difference. But you also need to be able to actually put some weight behind your moves. Hence the cardio and weightlifting."

Xavier nodded. "Okay."

Erik stepped out onto the track, Xavier following. "We'll take it easy for today; I'll run with you." He started jogging, setting a slower pace than he usually did, then had to slow even further so that he was level with Xavier.

Almost fifteen minutes later, they'd only managed four laps—one mile. Xavier panted, "Can we…stop…for a...second?"

Erik nodded after a moment and Xavier immediately stopped and bent over, hands on his knees as he gasped for breath, his upper body heaving as he struggled to breathe normally. Erik jogged in place a bit, shaking his head. "You are woefully out of shape, Xavier."

"I'm starting…to realize…that…myself."

"Look at the bright side."

Xavier glanced up at him. "What…bright side?"

"We know how long it takes you to run a mile." He laughed again at the halfhearted glare Xavier shot him.

He gave the professor a couple minutes to catch his breath then nudged his shoulder. "Come on. We've still got forty minutes left."

"Oh god," Xavier moaned as he straightened up.

Erik laughed as he set off again, Xavier stumbling after him. This was going to be fun.