Chapter Text
Erik’s eyes shot open, every tendon and fibre of muscle in his body suddenly taut and ready for action. He stood swiftly, accidentally knocking into Charles, making the telepath gasp painfully, but Erik had no time to apologize. The thousands upon thousands of missile sang a terrifying, escalating symphony as they drew closer and closer. Erik could feel their metal vibrating minutely, and instinctively he latched onto it.
So, the humans had played their hand, just like he had told Charles they would. There could be no mistaking the significance of the sight before them- death rocketing ever closer. Eradicate the threat before it can fight back, Erik thought ruefully. This scene was all too familiar to him.
“Erik!” Charles cried somewhere behind him. “Erik, do something, please!”
The missiles would hit their target in seconds. Erik thought of Charles and held up his hand, sending out his power. The missiles froze in midair. Destroy them. Destroy the threat. Protect your fellow mutants. Protect Charles. For one frightening, fleeting moment, Erik thought of turning them around- sending the projectiles back on the people who had tried to kill them all, had tried to kill Charles. But no. If he did that, he would lose Charles anyway. There had been enough bloodshed already. Erik curled his hand into a fist and the missiles turned in on themselves, crunching into useless balls of metal before falling, splashing into the sea.
Erik turned, looking behind him, searching out Charles’s gaze. Blue eyes bored into grey. Erik took a deep breath as the connection flared bright, relieved, and glowing with something that felt like fierce pride. Despite the current situation, Erik had to smile.
“Come on,” he said, holding out a hand, which Charles rushed forward to gladly take. “Let’s go home.”
~
After the beach, things had happened so quickly Erik had barely been able to keep up with what was going on. Charles had woken up the ex-members of the Hellfire Club, instructing Azazel to take them all back to the mansion. Whether or not the telepath had used his gifts to help persuade Azazel, Erik didn’t know, nor did he really care. Charles, being Charles, had offered to let them all stay at the mansion, explaining that it was probably one of the only safe places for mutants now that everyone knew they existed. Azazel, Angel, and the silent Janos, however, had all left almost as soon as Charles had stopped speaking.
Erik, through some miracle of clear-headedness had insisted that Charles go to a hospital to get his probably broken rib checked, and everyone had followed them through some kind of unspoken pact of fraternity. The doctor dismissed Charles with painkillers and the news that the rib was only cracked, so there was nothing they could do to set it and he had best not over-exert himself for a month or so. No one else had any major injuries, so they headed back home, Raven driving so Erik could stay plastered to Charles’s side in the back seat.
Dinner was a hushed affair, consisting of leftovers from the previous night. No one really felt like talking from a mixture of exhaustion and disbelief at what had happened over the course of the day. Under Erik’s supervision, Charles took some of the painkillers the doctor had given him. Both of them were too tired for their nightly chess game, so they went upstairs and dressed for bed, even though the last tendrils of sunlight hadn’t yet disappeared behind the horizon. Erik went to brush his teeth in the in-suite bathroom, but just as he was raising his toothbrush to his mouth, he froze, seeing his reflection in the mirror.
He set the toothbrush on the rim of the sink and just stared for a while. He had done it. He was finally free; but nothing seemed that different. Yes, the world was rid of Shaw, but now the humans were going to be actively searching for mutants, trying to round up all the so-called freaks. But here, with Charles, they had the mansion. Charles had told him about how he hoped to make it into a school to teach mutants to embrace their gifts, how he wanted to reach every single one of the people whose minds he had touched with Cerebro to let them know they weren’t alone. Erik smiled at himself in the mirror and noticed it was somewhat different; not mocking, with a hint of a private joke that had always been behind his smiles before. This toothy grin was genuinely happy.
“Everything alright?” Charles asked lazily. Erik could tell the tiring day, combined with the calming effects of the drugs were beginning to take hold on Charles’s mind.
“I’m fine. Be in in a minute,” Erik replied. He hastily finished brushing his teeth and returned to the bedroom, but Charles was already asleep, curved lightly on his side. Erik smiled again, despite the heaviness he felt throughout his body now that he saw how contentedly Charles was sleeping. Feeling his eyelids droop, he slid under the covers to curl carefully around the telepath’s frame, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple before pulling back to bury his nose in Charles’s hair.
Erik woke many hours later to Charles, groaning loudly, mumbling “Shite where did I put those bloody pills?” before reaching out a probing hand to his bedside table.
“Do you want some water?” Erik croaked blearily, blinking sleep from his eyes.
Charles rested a hand on his arm. “No, thank you, love, I have some left over from last night.”
The rattling of a pill bottle was soon followed with the sound of Charles swallowing and the clink of a glass being set down. When Erik opened his eyes next, Charles was laying back down facing him with a sparkle in his eye.
Sunshine filtered in through the half-curtained windows of the bedroom, casting dim light over the pale features before Erik. He ran a soft hand through Charles’s slightly mussed hair, and Charles smiled, leaning into the touch.
“Good morning,” he said brightly, reaching out to trail his fingers over Erik’s cheekbone.
Erik smiled before leaning in to brush their lips together gently. “Good morning.”