It was a week after his talk with Erik. A week after he had gotten the letter from his step-father. His control of his telepathy had come naturally once he'd found his friends didn't mind him reading their surface thoughts and now he had nearly the same level of control he had before the suppression collar was placed on. Of course Charles still didn't have access to his full mutation but at the rate he'd improved, hank believed it would only take at most a month for the full level to be obtained.
Knowing all of this, Charles had been able to focus more clearly on the problem surrounding his step-father. He'd even been able to have a calm conversation with the mans' secretary about meeting at Erik's café, which Mark Warren hadn't wanted to do. Charles was secretly glad Erik had offered the café to him because it made Charles feel a little safer in the knowledge that he would have to meet with the man.
The thought of safety hadn't stopped him from telling Erik that it was a bad idea to let Mark Warren anywhere near the café or the kids from the apartment but it hadn't stopped Erik's insistence. Nor had it stopped his friends from telling him they were going to be there for moral support, after Erik had told them about what Charles' step-father was after.
All of this found Charles sitting nervously in the café, waiting for his step-father and playing nervously with the turtle neck he'd borrowed from Erik. Because Mark expected to see the suppression collar still on Charles, the telepath knew him seeing Charles without it on would cause problems. When he'd mentioned it to Erik, the older mutant had given Charles one of his turtle necks to wear so he could hide the lack of a suppression collar. It wasn't brilliant and Charles knew if Mark asked to see it there would be problems but it was better than nothing.
Sean and Alex were working the café toady with Erik, something Charles knew they must have planned as a way of not leaving him alone. Raven and Hank were also there with Darwin and Angel, drinking coffee and trying not to look like they were watching his every movement. Surprisingly, Charles saw that Logan was also in the café, something which was strange because over the last few months Charles had never seen the man anywhere near the café. Charles had also picked up on a mind in the staff room, a mutant named Azazel and according to Erik, 'back-up in case something went wrong'. If it wasn't that Charles was worried about his friends, he'd feel completely grateful for the concern. He did feel grateful but he also didn't want to drag them into his mess and was even tempted to make them leave so if there were problems, they wouldn't get hurt. Except he'd promised Erik not do that and knew none of his friends would appreciate it.
His step-father was nearly half an hour late and by the time he did walk in Charles' nerves were jumping about. The man was the same as ever, taller and bulkier than Charles had ever, or would ever, be with dark features and a permanent scowl on his face. Charles held his breathe for a moment as he watched his step-father enter. He'd seen a number of 'suits' dressed in casual clothes walk into the café and from their minds saw they were each carrying guns meant to neutralise mutants. It made him shiver seeing that but he kept his calm as Mark walked over to the table.
The man shook Charles' hand, roughly and from the contact Charles could clearly hear the hate radiating from mark towards his step-son. "How's Christopher?" Charles asked conversationally.
"In prison." Charles flinched at that, hearing the blame and hatred radiating from both Marks' voice and mind. Christopher had been arrested for stealing but for some reason Mark blamed this on Charles, which seemed unfair in the telepaths opinion considering he hadn't seen his step-brother in over 3 years. Of course, Mark had always blamed Charles for everything, even his own Mothers' death. "Are you ready to sign the papers then?"
"No." Mark clenched his fists just as Alex appeared at his elbow.
"Tea Professor?" Charles sighed a little bemused that Alex had come over but looking around he saw that his friends were watching himself and Mark.
"Tea for both of us." Mark growled, motioning for Alex to move away. "Who is he?"
"A friend." Mark snorted and Charles could feel the anger appearing inside but he pushed it down. Alex came back with the tea, hovering a little longer than necessary before Charles gave him a look to tell him to leave. "I'm not going to sign the papers."
"Why not?" Mark glared at him and at any other time Charles might have flinched away but instead he just kept a level stare at the man.
"Because it is my Fathers' estate and therefore mine." Mark chuckled, not a nice sound coming from the man.
"You are a mutant with nothing to offer the world." Charles bristled, his thoughts going unbid to what he had planned when still at Oxford. "What would you do with the family fortune?"
"It's not your family." Charles glared right back at Mark, picking the fact that mark saw it as his rather than Charles'. "And I don't need to explain myself to you."
"Actually you do." Mark smiled smugly at Charles then. "The courts said you where unfit so you don't get a say in this boy."
"I'm not unfit."
"You killed your Mother." Mark had raised his voice higher than necessary and Charles had to quickly send a reassuring thought to his friends, who had gone to stand up at hearing this. Raven and Erik were the hardest to calm down but they stayed put at least.
"I didn't kill my Mother. She died from a heart attack."
"That you caused." Charles could feel his anger rising and he clenched his hands around the arms of his wheelchair to stop from using his telepathy on Mark.
"She drank a lot. That's what caused it." Mark looked bemused at Charles, having not expected Charles to argue with him. "I won't sign anything because you don't have any right to it." A thought flashed through Marks' mind quickly and Charles focused on it, picking out that Mark couldn't take any of Charles' inheritance without Charles' consent.
"Let me see the collar." Charles froze as Mark smiled. "Let me see the collar and I'll leave." From the other mans' mind Charles could tell that Mark wouldn't actually leave him alone if he saw the collar but if he didn't see it, Charles shuddered at the thought.
"Why do you want to see it?"
"Because I need to make sure it's' still there."
"It is." Charles told him but mark only shook his head. The telepath could see that Mark suspected the collar wasn't there.
"Then show me."
Charles froze for a minute, thoughts running through his head. Finally he realised that the only way out of this would be to make Mark think he'd seen it. Concentrating, Charles really hoped his telepathy was strong enough to create the illusion as he pulled down the collar of Erik's' turtle neck. For a moment it seemed to be working as Mark didn't say anything. Charles was just about to pull the jumper over his neck and drop the images inside Marks mind when a crash came from behind him, causing him to lose concentration.
Sorry about the cliff hanger but it felt right to end here so hope you enjoyed and the next chapter should be up in the next day or two, depending on how fast I write it. As always please review :)