My final semester in my master's program started today. Good luck to everyone in the new semester, as well.

"You ever kill anyone?"

Erik bit back a sigh. The publicity trip to the children's hospital was severely taxing the limits of his patience, limited as it was. Over the comms he heard the others struggling not to laugh. He looked down at the boy staring up at him adoringly. "No," he said flatly.

The boy scrunched up his face. Kid couldn't have been more than seven years old. "I don't believe you."

"Too bad," Erik replied. This time he heard someone laugh and looked up. Charles met his gaze, a hand over his mouth but Erik could see his eyes crinkling with laughter. He was clearly enjoying Erik's discomfort.

"Why would you have a gun if you didn't kill no one?" the boy persisted.

"There are other reasons to have a gun."

"Like what?"

Another boy joined them, maybe five years old. "You can shoot peoples without killing them, David," the second boy said knowingly. "Like in video games."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Okay!" Erik interjected, gently pushing the boys apart. "I have a gun to protect people. I do not kill people unless I have to, and no," he added quickly when he saw the older boy open his mouth to ask again, "I have not killed anyone."

They both frowned at him, clearly disappointed with his response. The younger one said, "Can I see your gun?"

Ach du lieber Gott (translation: oh dear god). He lifted his gaze to the ceiling, praying for patience. When the boys started tugging on his jacket hem, Erik looked over at Charles, silently pleading for help.

Charles came over to rescue him, smiling widely. With laughter in his voice, he knelt down and said, "Why don't we go play with your action figures, boys? Erik's a bit busy right now."

"But he's got a gun!" The first boy tried to pull at Erik's jacket again but Charles caught his hand and held it tight.

"Of course he has a gun," Charles replied, laughing a little, and reached for the younger boy's hand as well. "How else is he going to keep me safe?" After a moment, both kids decided that that made sense and walked off with Charles, who shot him a grin as they went.

Erik smiled briefly in return and trailed after him as he deposited the boys at a table and moved to a different group.

Emma loved when she could get shots of Charles with little kids. Perfect for the campaign, especially with the election less than two weeks away, and he really did have a way with children. One of her favorites so far, though, had been the picture of Agent Erik and Charles with the two boys. And it had been the perfect angle to catch the look on both their faces, even if they hadn't known they were showing anything. She could read it in the smiles; they were in love. Across the room, Charles sat down with a group of girls who welcomed him immediately with a doll and a hairbrush.

Snap! went her iPad.

Emma grinned. She'd have to make sure to email some of these to Raven; perfect sibling blackmail material. Speaking of blackmail…she looked around for Agent Erik. Gorgeous man. Too bad he was taken by her client. Sigh.

Emma made her way around the room until she could sidle up next to Agent Erik. They stood in silence next to each other for a few minutes, the only sound between them the snap of her iPad camera. Eventually, she decided a pointed remark wouldn't go amiss and said, "The kids really do love him, don't they?"

Agent Erik replied a tad fondly, "He loves the kids."

Emma nudged him with her elbow and said calculatingly, "I'm sure they're not the only ones here Charles loves. Or that love him." Too much? she thought but dismissed it almost instantly. Men were about as subtle as a monster truck, in her opinion.

That got her a sharp look which she returned with a knowing smile and walked away. Let's see if these two idiots will figure out there's more than just lust between them. Before I have to do something more than make pointed comments.

Still musing over Emma's words, Erik started at the sudden tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he had to bite back a sigh at the sight of yet another little kid staring up at him. Was there some kind of magnet on him? This time it was a little girl, maybe six or seven. Her hair was in several braids, one of which she was sucking on the end of. He knelt down so they were on the same level, wondering if she were lost or something. "Hi," he said gently. He felt a bit awkward but it was easier with girls than boys.

She pulled the braid out of her mouth and smiled shyly. She held up a length of braided purple, blue and yellow string. "For you. Mr. Charles made it." Then she stuck her hair back in her mouth.

Startled, Erik lifted his head to see Charles at the table with a group of girls, very studiously not looking over but Erik could see the faint blush creeping across Charles' cheeks. "I'm sure they're not the only ones here Charles loves. Or that love him." Emma's voice popped into his head again. He remembered the day Raven dropped by Charles' office, their conversations…that kiss. He did like Charles, very much so. But he had to think of the job, too. And there were rules…

A new thought occurred to him. Could he allow himself to be with Charles and still keep his job? He was distracted enough as it was trying to keep things strictly professional. Giving in might eliminate some of that distraction. What if he gave in, even the slightest? Would that work? Could that work?

Erik turned back to the girl and rolled up his left sleeve. He'll wear it; see what happens if he gives in a little bit. "Do you know how to tie a knot?" he asked her.

Her eyes wide, she nodded.

Holding his wrist out, he told her, "Go ahead then." Out of the corner of his eye, Erik saw Charles' head snap up, his eyes wide in surprise. The girl finished tying one very sloppy knot. Erik subtly tied another one so the bracelet wouldn't fall off and thanked her. She smiled around the braid. Glancing at Charles—who was still watching—Erik decided to push a little more. It couldn't hurt, right? Leaning closer, Erik whispered in the girl's ear, "Tell Mr. Charles thank you for me." He kissed her cheek and added, "Give him that, too."

She nodded, giggling, and announced loudly, "I like you." Then she ran back to the table. Erik stood up just in time to see her return to the group. He saw her lips move then lean in and kiss Charles on the cheek with a loud smack. Charles looked up, met Erik's gaze for a second, turned bright red and returned to the kids, brushing a doll's hair rather vigorously.

Erik smiled to himself. A muffled sound came through his comm and he said quietly, "Stop laughing and shut up, Alex, or you're sparring with me tomorrow after our morning run."

Alex groaned. "Seriously?"

"Two rounds."

Alex muttered, "Shutting up."

Erik clasped his hands in front of him, playing with the string. It was well made—another talent of Charles' that he was unaware of. He rather liked learning new things about Charles. Charles glanced up at him again, this time giving Erik a soft smile, his eyes shining. Erik returned it, thinking Maybe giving in wasn't so bad, after all.

Erik wore that bracelet all the time.

It was driving him crazy.

Every time Charles saw the flash of color peek out from under Erik's shirt sleeve, his brain temporarily stopped. It was the worst during their training sessions because Erik wore short sleeves then and the trio of colors was extremely obvious. And yet, still nothing happened. They didn't talk about whatever this was between them, and Charles was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he was in love with Erik.

And not just normal love. He was head over heels in love with Erik. But he had no clue if Erik felt the same! It was frustrating and confusing as hell. And Raven was no help, preferring to laugh and say he'll figure it out.

Charles looked over the top of his book at where Erik leaned over the kitchen table, working on something with Scott and Alex. The bracelet peeked out as Erik gestured. Charles had never in a million years thought that Erik would actually wear the damn thing. It was a moment of weakness on his part, asking little Eva to take it over to Erik for him. He put a hand on his cheek, feeling the heat of a blush beginning.

Erik wore the bracelet Charles made for him. And what was with that kiss? Eva had kissed his cheek and said it was from Erik and Erik smiled at him like he knew what Charles was thinking. Which was…what was he thinking? That the stars had finally aligned? Clearly not. Erik looked over just then and caught Charles watching; asked, "What time's the meeting again?"

Charles blinked. Meeting? What meet—oh… That meeting. "Thursday, 2 o'clock. I've had to rearrange my schedule to accommodate this and I hope to make it out early enough to meet with Bobby to go over his thesis."

Erik nodded, looking thoughtful, and turned back to the table. Perhaps he was planning security. He was good at that. Erik was good at a lot of things, most recently making Charles' heart skip a beat whenever they were close, or their eyes met for more than a second, or he saw that bracelet…

He was lost. But happily so.

If only he knew about Erik…

Charles was grading papers in the living room, taking up most of the couch and the coffee table, to Erik's amusement. The man could take up so much space for such a slight person. He leaned over the back of the couch to glance at the grades, oddly curious to know how Charles' students were doing.

Charles tilted his head back so that their faces were only a few inches apart. "Yes?" he asked with a sly smile.

Erik's stomach flipped. To distract them, he pointed at one paper. "You marked that one differently than the one in your hands."

Charles' brow furrowed and he grabbed the paper in question. "Oh, no, he's got most of it right. Daniel's usually pretty good at this sort of thing but Marie on the other hand needs to apply herself more. I think it's a confidence issue, personally. I offer tutoring but my free time has been substantially less than I'd like it to be." He tilted his head back again to meet Erik's gaze. "That's not a complaint, just so you know."

Charles always complained. Erik pretty much expected it whenever he opened his mouth. He simply shrugged and straightened. Charles' hand wrapped around his wrist as he started to walk away and Erik turned back to see him hesitant, biting his lower lip. "What is it?" he asked.

"I…well, I've been meaning to ask but…"

"What, Charles?" Spit it out….Erik may be developing feelings but that didn't mean he couldn't still get exasperated with him.

Charles hesitated another moment. "That…the shooter. From a couple weeks ago?" Erik nodded, remembering. "Well, I was just wondering…did he, well did he say anything?"

"What do you mean?"

Charles ran his free hand through his hair, causing a lock of it to fall across his eyes. Erik felt a sudden urge to brush it away. "Is he a part of all this?" He gestured around the room to indicate him and the boys.

Ah…He got it now. Erik sat on the back of the couch and gently informed him, "No, Charles. He wasn't."

"But he tried to kill me!"

Erik nodded, striving to sound less gruff than usual. "Yes, but he has no connection to whomever's been sending you threatening letters. And he had nothing to do with what happened to Raven, either."

"Then…" Charles looked confused and a bit scared. "Why would he…?"

Erik shifted their hands so he could squeeze Charles' gently, reassuringly. "There are always fanatics out there. This one may not have liked one of your viewpoints and sought to use the threats to his advantage. Maybe he didn't know who you were and just snapped. All we know for certain is that he was not a part of whatever this is. Which is why we are still here. And will continue to be until we know for sure that you will be safe."

Charles smiled a little and said softly, "Thank you, Erik. For everything." His blue eyes sparkled a bit and Erik felt himself smile in return.

Shit…pull away before you say something you can't take back. Erik squeezed his hand one last time before getting up and heading to the war room.