On the upside, I have a job now. On the downside, I'm getting more hours now and have less time to write. *sigh* Anyhoo, it's still summer, so that's good. and I'm getting back to Ever in Your Favor soon, I promise! I haven't forgotten about any other ongoing XMFC stories, either.
Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy the chapter! Thanks for reading! :)
Chapter 22
Now
With everyone trying to make sure that everyone else is all right and all of them wanting to know what happened to everyone else—seeing as Jean is probably the only one that knows every side of the story—there is enough crowding and commotion in the small storage room that Erik can't keep an eye on his husband the entire time. He doesn't notice when it happens, but at one point he turns back and Charles's eyes are closed and he's still.
"Charles…?"
The sudden panic is stopped by the gentle hand on his arm. "It's all right," Nicole tells him. "He's only sleeping. He needs it." The hand she had on Charles's chest as she healed him comes away.
Erik glances at her, still uneasy. "You've finished?"
She shakes her head slowly. "Any traces of the radiation are gone, and the effects reversed, but he'll still be weak. Maybe a bit sick for a while. I can do a little more for him, but not right now. He needs the rest first. And even then…" She sighs apologetically. "Well that I explained to you…"
He nods numbly, and tries to gather his thoughts enough to know what to ask next. "I take it I shouldn't bring him home just yet then."
"No. I wouldn't travel with him yet, and teleporting…I don't know. But it looks like your teleporter needs rest anyway." She's right. Kurt is swaying on his feet and Jean is up now and she and Moira are clucking over him, trying to make him sit. Nicole, however, is continuing. "Beyond that, not only do you need rest, you could probably use a bit of healing yourself."
"Later," Erik answers tiredly. "We need to know what we should do now. If we can't go home where can we go?"
Nicole looks at him thoughtfully for a moment. "Most of the old barracks from before the village was built have been converted to storage or labs, but we still have one or two of the smaller ones. They're out of the way. No one uses them anymore—the few humans left have rooms of their own, if you can call what Shaw gave them rooms…closets more like…"
Erik blinked. "Humans?"
Nicole paused, caught off guard because the part of her answer he was focusing on obviously wasn't what she'd expected him to respond to, seeing as it had seemed to be more of an offhand comment than anything.
"Yes. You didn't know? Some of the scientists Shaw kept here after the war were humans. Those that were intelligent or successful enough for him to take notice of them even if they weren't mutants, I suppose. Unfortunately they've always been treated like second-class citizens here even so—have even less freedom than the rest of us; he wouldn't let them off base—but they're here. The few that were younger at the time of the war and haven't passed away already, anyhow."
"No…I didn't know." Just another layer of Shaw to disturb him.
Nicole sighs. "Anyway…one of the old barracks. There's a small one not far from here that ought to be big enough for all of you. You can rest there. With any luck we can get you there before anyone finds out what's happened here." She glances at Shaw's lifeless body and the unconscious mutants around him nervously. "Most here will be glad to know he's gone. We're free. But there are the few that are loyal…"
Erik scowls. "What can we do?"
"Let us worry about them. You've done enough," she tells him sincerely. "Already I don't know how we could ever repay you."
Erik swallows and looks down at his husband, whose color is already beginning to return. "You've done enough yourself," he says quietly. He starts to get up then, if they're going to get moving, but finds himself dizzy and sinks to the ground again. His voice is tinged with embarrassment when he speaks next. "Nicole…I uhm…"
Her hand is already on his arm to steady him, and wordlessly she moves it to his chest. Erik closes his eyes for a moment, letting the familiar feeling of warmth wash over him as he begins to feel stronger. Without direct exposure the sickness has built slowly, and he hasn't been much affected. It doesn't take long before the effects are gone and he feels himself again. Still exhausted, but himself. As strong as he should be.
"Thank you…" He pauses uneasily. "Nicole, there's…before we leave, whenever that is…there's something else we have to…take care of. Somehow. I don't know if you even know what I'm—"
"I know," she says, pitching her voice low. "You don't need to be worried about that, either. Trust me; they're safe, and after what you've done any of our doctors will be more than glad to help."
If he'd been on his feet he would have staggered just from relief, no matter how much he'd been healed.
Their children are going to be fine, in one way or another.
All of them.
It takes a moment or two to quiet everyone down enough to tell them what they plan to do, and Erik is glad to be able to carry Charles himself as they move out. On the other hand it also worries him; Charles may be mostly healed now, but he's still far too light.
"He'll be fine," Nicole assures him.
Erik gives her a sidelong glance. "But you said…"
"I know what I said. It's all true—it's probably not going to be easy for him from now on—but you're looking at him like he might break at any moment. He won't. He'll be all right. He's stable now, physically. He just needs time to recover."
By now Logan is carrying Kurt, who looks like he's near to falling asleep himself, and Erik has to remind himself again that Charles is not his only concern.
"All right…where is this place we're going? You said it wasn't far." He glances down at the sprawled forms on the floor of the storage room. "And what about them?"
"Considering the way they were knocked out, I doubt they'll come around for a while. As soon as I get the lot of you settled I'll get help. We have somewhere we can keep the loyalists under lock and key until we decide what to do with them."
Erik is quiet for a moment. "Right…I suppose that isn't up to us. You're the ones who've been here, dealing with him every day for thirty-five years…all of them…"
Nicole quietly ushers them on, through several deserted corridors that don't look at all familiar to Erik. He spent five years in that stone prison, but all he ever saw of the compound beyond were the labs—teleported there, and straight back. It was a miracle he found his way out at all when he escaped.
When he made his attempt he'd nearly lost the will. But something pulled him—something he didn't understand. Now he couldn't help but wonder if, somehow, that something had been Charles.
They haven't gone far before someone rounds the corner in front of them. Erik tenses immediately, but Nicole isn't alarmed and she seems to know him.
"There you are!" the man is saying. "What happened?" He's speaking to Nicole, and only slowly seems to realize that the rest of them are there.
Erik is a bit behind her, but from the angle he can just tell that she's smiling some. "The children came after them—with a little help from friends," she says, nodding minutely in the direction of Logan and Scott .
The man is older, moderately tall and clean-cut. As well as he's aged it's impossible to tell just what category of older he is. The only new piece of clothing is the white lab coat he wears, and everything else looks rather old but well mended and taken care of. He's blinking in surprise as he takes in the entire family behind Nicole.
Then he smiles, just a fraction, as he looks back to Nicole. "I told you they'd do something," he says conspiratorially.
"Shaw is dead."
That gives him the dumbstruck look again, but he recovers quickly, and he doesn't comment. "What can I do? Where are you bringing them?" Why does he keep glancing at Charles? Why does it seems like he hopes he isn't noticed doing it? He seems to know something about them, anyway. Erik wonders what, and why. He tries to keep his eyes from narrowing.
"I'm bringing them to the old barracks. They need somewhere out of the way to rest. And if you want to help, round up enough others to clean up the mess in the storage room before anyone else finds it." The last part she says flatly, and the man nods stiffly and starts to turn and part ways. He glances at Charles again. Erik thought maybe it was only that if the man knew anything about what had been happening in the past week he might realize who Charles is…who Erik is and who Charles is in relation to him, anyhow, or something like that…but now he wonders if it's something else.
The man lets out a short breath. "I'll take care of it." Now he nods toward Charles. "Uhm…if you need somewhere more quiet or private for him…if that would be better for recovery or…you can use my room. It's near the closest of the barracks anyway." He's likely human then, if he has a room here. He is older. It fits. It also explains why he's on Nicole's side—their side—with no love for Shaw and those loyal to him.
Nicole nods, and the man hurries off, and Erik is left with no idea what the hell just happened.
Jean is watching him go. Why does she have that look on her face?
Thirty-Five Years, Two Months Ago
"How long will you be gone this time?" Charles asks plaintively, eyes wide and questioning.
Father smiles and bends down to ruffle his hair. "Just a couple of weeks. Don't look at me like that—you know I don't like going. But research is what we scientists do, you know. I need to work on something with a friend of mine."
"Just a couplea weeks. Promise?"
"I promise," Father chuckles, and kisses his forehead. "I'll be back before you know it, and I'll bring you a present."
Charles throws his arms around his father's neck and squeezes. "That's okay. I don't need a present."
He'd have settled for getting his father back.
He gets neither.
Now
Nicole shows them to the barracks first, a room with several beds down each side and shelves that haven't been used in years. Most of the children drop onto the thin mattresses, barely taking the time to brush the dust from the old blankets.
They've all had a long week.
Though that's quite a bit of an understatement.
"If you want to find that other room for Charles, go ahead," Logan tells Erik. "I'll watch the kids." He looks tired himself, but Erik trusts him.
Nicole bring him just around the corner a few doors down, and glances at a number on the doorframe before going in. "It's not much better…but he'll probably rest better without the entire family crowding him asking questions the moment he wakes up. I'm no doctor, but I can tell you he needs at least two or three days of relatively uninterrupted rest before you think about bringing him anywhere…"
When Erik sees the room he's sure the man they met in the hallway is human. The room really isn't any bigger than a large closet. A single bed and a small shelf with a few articles of worn but well-mended clothing like the ones he'd been wearing are the only things in the room.
"But if we use this room, then…"
"Brian can sleep anywhere—there's more room in the barracks we just left, and there are others. But either way, he was right—this will be better for Charles. You can control visitors until he's stronger, at least, and keep it quiet so he can sleep."
Nicole pulls the covers back on the bed, which as she said isn't much better than those in the barracks, though at this point that really doesn't matter. Erik gently lowers his husband to the mattress and covers him up, arranging the pillows under his head. "Brian. That's his name?"
She nods absently and quickly changes the subject, which is curious. Jean didn't say anything, the rest of the way here, but Erik can't help remembering the look on her face…
"I need to see how things are going out there—there may be some trouble—but don't worry about anything." Nicole smiles. "Maybe I don't have anything useful in a scuffle, but plenty of us who aren't fond of Shaw here have decently formidable powers. We'll have any trouble-makers rounded up soon enough. Anyway, I'll bring you all something to eat as soon as I can. Hopefully you won't have to stay out of sight for long, but for now don't go anywhere unless it's the lavatory." She'd pointed out the now-unused community one across the corridor from the barracks.
Erik nods and then she's gone.
The bed isn't really meant to hold two, but on his side Erik manages to squeeze himself onto the edge next to Charles, and wraps an arm around him. He doesn't mean to fall asleep but he does, and when he wakes he doesn't know how long he's been out. He realizes there's an old clock on the shelf, but he doesn't know what time it was when they were brought here.
The clock tells him it's early to mid morning now, and he wonders if any night will ever bring as much excitement as last night did.
He hopes not.
Charles is still sleeping comfortably, and Erik takes the opportunity to find the bathroom by the barracks and check on the children. Logan is sitting up in one of the beds, still dozing a bit but awake now, and gives him a nod of reassurance that they're all fine. Everyone else is still asleep.
"Kurt woke up a few hours ago freaking out that Raven didn't know what had happened…went home a little while to let her and Nicole's family know we're all right and came back. Didn't take long and he was out like a light again," Logan tells him. "He said something about he could probably bring them all back here once he'd gotten some more sleep if he brought them one at a time."
Raven. In everything else Erik hadn't even thought…he feels awful about it now, but he's glad she knows it's over. That they're safe.
Or they should be. Where is Nicole? He asks, but Logan hasn't seen her either.
She comes back not long after Erik has returned to the small room where his husband sleeps. She tells him that everything is under control, and brings food. She has help. The older human man from yesterday and a couple of others are with her, helping her carrying things. They distribute the food to the children and the others in the barracks, and the other two mutants with Nicole leave then but the human man stays. Both he and Nicole follow Erik back to the other room.
Erik stops outside the door, looking at Nicole, and then the man, and then Nicole again. The man seems anxious. Nicole, for some reason he can't fathom, looks as if she's trying to keep from smiling. "Is there something I need to know?"
Charles doesn't know where he is when he wakes up, but Erik is there and it doesn't matter. He's in a bed, and he's warm, and Erik is sitting beside him with a hand wrapped around one of his.
"There you are," Erik smiles.
"Mmm…not that I know where 'there' is. Meaning here. Where…?"
"We're still in the compound, but now it's under the control of those who wanted Shaw out of power anyway—which was nearly everyone here. Those who were loyal are out of the way for the time being." He briefly explains the rest—what happened after Charles fell asleep and where exactly within the compound they are.
Charles is satisfied until he remembers what else they have to be concerned about. "The children—"
He surges up, and Erik gently pushes him back down. Along with a brief coughing fit, he finds out that it doesn't take much force to keep him there; he's still particularly weak, even if he's no longer deathly ill.
"They're all fine. Most of them are still sleeping."
Erik is right. Charles can feel their minds not far away, most quiet and still in sleep. But that isn't what he meant. "I know…I mean…"
His husband's expression softens. "I know what you mean, and it's all right. You were right; now that Shaw is dead most of the people here want to help us. We'll get them back."
Charles relaxes then. "All right…what about Raven? Does she know we're okay? What about Nicole's family?"
"Nicole's family is still back in the city with Raven, and they all know what happened. Kurt told them; he's just not ready to start carrying passengers again yet. Last night really wiped him out."
Charles lets out a breath. "I'm sorry he had to be involved at all. Any of them."
Erik squeezes his hand gently, and grins a bit. "Though I hate to admit it, but we never would have gotten out of this without them."
"Yes, they're…quite extraordinary, aren't they?" he chuckles fondly.
They're quiet then, until Erik bring a hand to his cheek and strokes it with a thumb, looking at him closely. "How are you feeling?"
That's hard to determine, but, "I feel much better than I did. Though I imagine a full recovery will take some time, no matter how much Nicole can do for me."
"And after that?" Erik looks worried all of a sudden, frowning as he asks that, but the expression is rather ambiguous and Charles might not have realized exactly what was worrying him without the connection they have. He can feel the guilt, the concern…and he know what his husband is thinking about.
"After that we'll take it a day at a time," he says quietly. "What Nicole said…I don't know how bad it will be. But it doesn't matter. I promised I wouldn't leave you if I could help it, and this time I could."
Erik swallows and leans down to kiss him. His fingers brush the back of Charles's head—which is still bare, of course—and Charles feels a strange bubble of laughter rising in his chest.
"What?" Erik asks, looking at him curiously as he pulls back.
"I still have no hair."
Erik smirks a little. "If it makes you feel any better, I think she did say it should come back."
"For a while, at least. It was already thinning some before this. I don't know if there is any genetic coding for baldness in my family, but…well, I suppose we'll see."
Erik is shaking his head in bewilderment. "Why are we talking about this?"
Charles laughs again, and this time he notices the tears in his eyes. "I really don't know. But I'd much rather be talking about this than…than…" He sobs quietly before he can stop it, and he doesn't know if it's relief or something else. He doesn't have to say anything. He reaches up for Erik and his husband gently pulls him up into his arms and holds him. He doesn't cry. Not really. Neither does Erik. There isn't any reason to now. But he can feel the silent tears on his face.
"We're all right," he breathes. "We'll really be all right." Erik is nodding against his shoulder and holding him tightly, helping him to believe that it's all really over. Shaw is dead and everyone is safe and it will take time but everything that's been wrong with this world with Shaw in control can be fixed. It threatens to feel like nothing but a dream.
Erik holds him for a long time, both of them content to rest in the fact that they're both still here. Charles wouldn't have minded if Erik held him all day, but eventually he gently pulls back again. He settles Charles against the head of the bed, pulling a pillow or two up behind him for support.
"I know you probably want to see the children, but they're still sleeping, aren't they?"
Charles checks, and nods. "Most of them. Logan and Scott, too. Jean is awake. I would like to see her…"
"You will. But I think there's someone else you should see first." Erik is smiling again now, and Charles doesn't understand. "I think you'd like to meet the man who's leant us his room."
"Well…I'd like to thank him at some point, certainly, but I don't see why I necessarily need to do that right this moment…" He can already feel his eyelids drooping again.
Erik kisses his forehead, and he's already standing up. "Trust me; you'll be glad I didn't let you wait."
"But…" He doesn't have time to protest any further before his husband is out the door and Charles is left alone, shaking his head in confusion.
The barracks is quiet. Everyone is asleep or dozing except for Jean, Nicole, and Brian. Jean is talking quietly but animatedly with the human man, and Nicole is finishing up making rounds to the others to see if any of them need her abilities. When she sees him she comes to the door to meet him.
"I checked all of them," she tells him, keeping her voice down so as not to wake anyone. "Hank was the only one I sensed any real amount of exposure in, and even then it wasn't much—all indirect, like yours."
"Hank's the one that carried Charles at first…"
"That explains it, then. And it's gone now. He won't be affected. I gave the others a precautionary sweep, too. None of them will have any ill effects, and it should help them get their strength back more quickly besides. They're all exhausted." She pointed an accusing finger into his chest. "You should be getting more sleep too."
"I will…but Charles is awake now, and…" He nods toward Jean and her partner in conversation, and Nicole glances back at them and nods knowingly.
"Of course."
Nicole excuses herself, smiling again, and at the same moment Jean stops talking and looks up and catches Erik's eye. She motions to him and the older man she's talking to turns around, standing when he sees Erik is there. Erik scarcely needs to nod before Brian is excusing himself and hurrying from the room.
"You didn't even warn Mom, did you?" Jean asks.
Erik takes a seat beside her and shrugs. He's a little concerned, as his daughter seems to be, but he doesn't know what he could do about it. "What would I have said?"
"Good point…still working on this one myself."
Charles doesn't know he's dozing until there's a knock on the small room's door. He picks his head up with a start, wincing when his weak muscles protest at the abrupt movement. He doesn't sense Erik outside the door—only someone else—and he assumes his husband is checking on the children and sent the man back here on his own.
Another knock, more hesitant this time. Now that he thinks about it, the first was rather hesitant as well.
"You can come in. I'm sorry, I dozed off…"
The door cracks open, and though the thin older man who comes in carries himself well, confidently, at least at the moment it's a façade. The waves of nervousness rolling from him hit Charles like a wall. Not only nervousness, either. Carefully controlled…excitement? Charles doesn't pry, and right now with his strength still low the feelings must be strong indeed for him to be picking them up without looking for them.
The man slowly closes the door behind him, and though he's almost staring he doesn't seem to know what to say.
Neither does Charles. He's struck by the fact that this man looks so familiar to him but he can't pinpoint how or why.
"Charles, I—" The man begins and ends abruptly, then tries again with something Charles wasn't expecting—not that he was expecting the man to use his first name from the get-go, either. "Did Erik say anything to you…?" He's confused now, and it seems to be from Charles's lack of response.
But Charles doesn't know how to respond to that, either, and he only stares back. He knows he should say something—something polite, at least—but he simply can't stop trying to decipher why the man looks familiar. It's feels, all of a sudden, as if he's forgotten something incredibly important. It doesn't help that his mind still feels sluggish from need of rest and recovery.
The man is quiet for a few seconds, and then sighs shortly.
"He didn't. And here I am just staring at you. I'm…I'm sorry…what you must think…I…"
"I'm sorry. I feel like I know you and that seems to be what you're insinuating, but—" How is it possible? The man's mind isn't familiar to him—it's pattern and waves—which would mean if they've met it would have been before the war before he fully gained his powers…
The man is shaking his head in disappointment. "You were five. You were old enough to remember, but so much has happened to you since then—to all of us. I shouldn't be surprised, really, I just—" He ducks his head bit and pinches the bridge of his nose in a sigh and—
And the scraps of information in Charles's mind snap together with pieces of memory to form a coherent whole.
Someone who claims to know him—to know him well enough to be anxious about seeing him again—but couldn't have known him anything later than before the war. A familiar face but not a familiar mind.
"Just a couplea weeks. Promise?"
"I promise."
A laugh and a kiss. An embrace. A promise that never could have been kept.
"Father, what's wrong?"
That same gesture, thumb and forefinger pinching, a bowed head, over and over as far back as memory allow. A silent plea. Brian Xavier doesn't like to be away from his family, or to work too long and away from them, but sometimes he has no choice. He and his wife are, over all, happy. In love. But, sometimes, she's angry. Because she doesn't like to see him go.
When the war begins and Father stops coming back, Charles wonders if it wouldn't have helped if he'd been angry sometimes, too. Or if Mother hadn't been. If maybe Father wouldn't have left that time and he would be safe. But now they don't know what happened to him.
Charles pulls in a breath so sharply it hurts, and it leads to a coughing fit he didn't plan.
"Charles! Are you all right?"
"I-It's impossible…" he gasps between breaths, as he regains control. Regaining that control and getting enough air again takes enough concentration that his eyes snap shut.
When he opens them again the man is at his bedside, leaning over him with a hand hovering near his shoulder, not touching. And now he knows why he knows that face. But. "It's impossible," he breathes again. Damn his eyes. They're filling.
At least he isn't the only one. The man shakes his head slowly, his own eyes damp. "No…not impossible. I was one of the scientists Shaw brought here at the beginning of the war. I was never in danger from that attack. I was snatched from where I was before it came. My family wasn't taken too because they weren't with me, and in the confusion…all of the people Shaw was having spirited away…I'm not the only one whose family they missed and never went back for."
Oh god. All those years of thinking…
"Oh my god. You…" Suddenly he can't breathe again, and he can't see anymore for tears blurring his vision, but it doesn't matter now. He doesn't need to. He doesn't need to see the man to know without a doubt who he is.
Charles doesn't know his mind, but he can feel a warmth in the back of his own—not the same as Erik's light, nothing so bright and piercing, but something warm and comfortable that he never missed until he felt it again now.
Now he knows it was missing.
"Father…"
Just a hand on his arm at first, but that quickly becomes a tight embrace and Charles clings back as Brian Xavier drops onto the edge of the bed beside him and pulls his son into his arms.
Brian Xavier. His father. His father is still alive. He's been alive all this time, held here by Shaw.
This time Charles cries. He's happy—just as happy as he was to know that their ordeal here was over and that Shaw will never hurt anyone again—but this time he can't stop it. This time, too, there is sadness with the joy. The years they didn't have. So many of them. It's so much different than the first twenty-five years he and Erik passed together. At least they had each other, even if they didn't know just to what extent.
Until this moment, Charles had been sure of his orphaned status for thirty-five years.
Brian doesn't seem to mind. He holds him, the way Charles remembers from when he was a boy—different only because he's, well, much bigger now.
So many times in his life he's cried, but never for the childhood he lost. The same was true for everyone young at the time of the war, after all. He's hardly unique in that respect. It seemed especially insignificant after learning what Erik went through.
But having his father's arms around him makes it suddenly seem okay to cry for those things. Okay to cry for missing his mother. Okay to cry for all the years he missed his father until now. Even now he nearly can't believe it, but…
It doesn't matter. It's real.
"Oh son, I'm so sorry. If there had been any way at least to let you know I was all right…he wouldn't allow it. He didn't want knowledge of his control to get out beyond the councils at this stage, and I couldn't act against him any more than Nicole could before now. He knew where you were. You and your family. He could have—"
"I know," Charles answers softly, almost miserably. "I understand. I do. It doesn't make me hate how it all turned out any less." Brian only squeezes him gently in response. He could fall asleep here, like this. He was falling asleep anyway, before this, and now he's tempted to just do it.
They're quiet for a little longer after that, Charles composing himself and Brian trying not to loose his own composure. When he's sure he'll be able to speak without clamming up again Charles sits back slowly. He feels even more tired out than before thanks to being put through the emotional wringer he's not quite free of yet, but at the same time he's also certain he won't actually be falling asleep any time soon.
Brian lets him go reluctantly, watching him searchingly as he settles back against the pillows. Charles can feel the mixed emotions still emanating from the man in waves. "I'm sorry," he says after a moment. "I know this is…are you all right?"
Charles nods slowly. "I am, I just…" One of those strange bubbles of laughter again, rising in his chest because he doesn't know how else to respond. After everything that's happened in such a short time he wonders if he's bordering on hysteria.
Some of the laughter escapes weakly. "Thirty-five years…it's quite a bit to catch up on."
"There isn't much else to say, about me," his father answers, frowning. "I've been here. Done whatever Shaw asked, and hated it. But I couldn't let anything happen to you."
Charles's chest feels tight, wondering what that must have been like and being afraid to know, all at once. This past week has been hard enough on himself and Erik, trying to keep each other and the children safe from Shaw. For someone to have such pressure put on them for so many years…well. The lines in Brian's face are no wonder. "I'm sorry…"
His father shakes his head and shrugs—as if saying What can be done about it now?—and moves as if to stand. "Well…I guess I should let you get some rest…"
Charles catches his arm. "Have you lost your mind? You can't leave now. Even if you did, I certainly wouldn't sleep. Not for a while, at least."
Brian smiles a little and settles on the edge of the bed again. "What did you have in mind? Like I said, I don't have much to tell."
"Do I have to have anything in mind?" Charles asks quietly. I just don't want you to leave. Not yet.
His father jumps a little, unused to the telepathic contact, blinking in surprise and looking around. "That was…that was you?"
"Yes," he chuckles. "I'm sorry; I've had the use of my abilities for so long I sometimes forget they were ever latent. That's right; you never would have known anything about them, I suppose." It's why he didn't know who Brian was instantly. If he had ever in the past touched his father mind with his fully activated powers, he never would have been in the dark today.
"Not until Shaw tracked you down after the war, no."
"Hmm…he kept you updated, then? He…watched us? Erik and I?" The thought sends chills up his spine, and he has to remind himself that the dangerous mutant is dead now.
"Had you watched, yes. He told me enough to keep me from stepping out of line, from risking any harm coming to any of you—about Raven, and Erik, and the children. Never as much as I wanted to know." He swallows. "I wanted to know everything. I wanted to see you."
Charles gulps past a knot in his own throat. "You can see us all now. You can come home with us."
Brian smiles uncertainly. "I would like that."
"You've met Erik, apparently. Who else have you seen?"
A brief laugh. "I've seen all of them, but they've been sleeping. Jean is the only one of the children I've spoken with. She's something, that one."
Charles can't help but grin. "She certainly is."
They both fall quiet again, Brian shaking his head in bewilderment. "Grandchildren. I've known about them all since they were born, but it didn't quite seem real until now. Well, that and…you see, you were so cute as a child your mother and I were always sure we'd have a smart, beautiful daughter-in-law someday…"
He's smiling in good-humored amusement as he says it, and that doesn't help Charles as he tries to keep his cheeks from burning. "Oh, god, please, I mean—that's hardly—" He's trying not to sputter.
Yesterday he was dying, half an hour ago he didn't have a father, and now he's already catching up on all of the years of embarrassment-by-parent he was never subjected to? What is the world coming to?
If Erik were here he would just find it incredibly funny.
Damn him.
"I'm sorry," Brian laughs. "It's true, but it doesn't matter." He quiets and is speaking seriously again. "I like Erik. I really do." He pauses, mouth opening once or twice before he's able to continue. "It's so clear how much he loves you—that he would do anything for you. That's all I could have asked for, for you."
Charles smiles, blinking away tears again now, and he says what he says because he doesn't know what else to say. But also because it's true. "Erik is smart and beautiful."
His father chuckles again and hugs him.
NOTE: In my head, Brian Xavier is played by Mark Harmon of NCIS fame. Because he's awesome. :P
