It had been a few weeks since what has been dubbed The Lehnsherr Incident. To be precise it had actually been two weeks and three days since his bizarre visitation, plenty of time to orient oneself with a world that included an emotional Lehnsherr. Admittedly the first jumble of thoughts upon witnessing the encounter ran along the lines of oh holy fuck no this changes everything! Why is Lehnsherr hugging Elbow-patch man? Who is he? Why is a cuddly little professor visiting him? What parallel world have we all woken up in where the infamous Erik Lehnsherr, heart of steel, had feelings?! How did this happen and why does nobody else know? It such fantastical news, impossible to believe but, at the end of the day, relatively mediocre in the grand scheme of things. People didn’t really want to know that this demon they had created for themselves, this person to be feared and awed over, was really just as human as all the rest. And really who would believe a story like that? Lehnsherr? Emotional? Fuck off!
Now Azazel in particular liked to pride himself on adaptability, even when he snuck into the weirdest of situations, but he for one was still reeling from the situation. To be fair to himself, he was the only witness to this event, so where someone, anyone else would be able to compartmentalise this story with a veil of disbelief and the utter certainty that this was bullshit born of unending boredom, he could not. The images were seared into his brain, Lehnsherr had held this guy, kissed him, looked at him like he’d hung the fucking moon. This was some seriously fucked up shit.
And the fact remained that it was such an unexpected event, there was no way in hell he could have prepared himself for it. He couldn’t have eased the path that made this particular truth so hard to swallow because there was no path, no indication that he was anything other than a heartless automaton. Lehnsherr had busted though the wall and thrown everything to shit.
Now, Azazel was nothing if not a businessman, he knew how to play the game, and after the first tentative suggestion of the tale had him laughed out of the room, well, he’d kept the information for the most part to himself. He’d retold versions of tale here and there for the amusement of the long-termers, they could have a laugh at his expense, but knew better than to pass the story on to anyone who would let it reach Lehnsherr’s ears. The main facts though he kept for himself, you never know when knowledge will come in useful, and nothing gets people more defensive than knowing about their lives. So he kept a tight hold on the information and he kept an eye on Lehnsherr and if he was honest to himself little actually changed. Maybe that was why they were so reluctant to actually believe him, it’s not as if he suddenly started hugging everyone he passed, or even talking to them for that matter. No, not even that chilling shark’s grin, the only thing that changed anywhere was the fact that Azazel now knew. He knew Lehnsherr had a heart. Lehnsherr had a heart and he thought no one knew anything about it.
So when he received the news, through his own not-quite-nefarious means, that this wasn’t just a onetime deal, Lehnsherr was having another visitor, well he wasn’t all that sure what to think. He had been keeping an eye out on the off chance that there was something bigger going on here, so the minute he heard of him having another VO he thought what the hell? and jumped at the chance to find out for himself what was really going on here. Whether this was a business thing- maybe there was more to the man than met the eye- or perhaps it was all just a fluke.
The flaw in this plan was how to go about the great uncovering of one Erik Lehnsherr. The problem was that, although he would love to be privy to the verbal conversation- he wouldn’t put it past Lehnsherr to be able to mimic body language to his advantage in case anyone was watching- he had no reason to physically be in the room with him. There was no one on the outside that he particularly wanted to visit him, and he had even less inclination to make small talk with someone he didn’t care for. As adept as he was at getting into places he shouldn’t be, tricks of the trade and all that, the visiting room would be another matter entirely. Looks like he would just have to put up with another hour spent spying through the door, hoping no one would move him along.
As it turns out, this decision would be one of the best he ever made. There was no accounting for how he would have reacted to this particular revelation.
--- --- ---
Two weeks is a lifetime when you have little to do to distract you from the boredom that creeps up on you when you have so much to look forward to and so little to occupy your mind. Charles was coming to see him again and more than that, he had written that the twins’ passports had come through last week and he was going to bring them. He was finally going to see the twins again. Admittedly it hadn’t been overly long since they were last a family, but any time away from them seemed like a lifetime. It’s true what they say, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Not that they didn’t have his whole heart to begin with, it was just that he had never noticed the depth his feelings ran until they were all apart.
The day of the visitation couldn’t come quick enough. It was pure torture having to wait around until he could see them. Worse than the last time Charles had visited, then there had been fear and trepidation mixed in with the excitement and pure joy, what if Charles didn’t love him anymore? What if he thought he shouldn’t be near the children now that he’s in jail? What if he wanted to move on and leave his jailbird fiancé to rot? Or worse of all, what if Shaw had gotten his claws into him? All of that and more had been churning in the pit of his stomach that day, weighing him down and dampening the excitement into something more manageable. This time there were no fears, other than the queasy feeling in his stomach that told of how far apart they might have grown, easily ignored and inconsequential in the face of the news that Charles, his darling Charles, was bringing their beautiful children.
When the time came he wasted no time in heading straight for the visiting room as fast as he could, though his nerves were frazzled and shot to hell, and the excitement in his belly made him feel almost buoyant. People still moved to get out of his path though, scurried away like he was going to hurt them, like they couldn’t see the hot ball of emotion he had become. Although truth be told, apparently he always gave the air of being unhurried, or so Charles had told him once. They’d been on their way to one a rally, rushed off their feet with two new-borns to juggle but people had only commented about how frazzled Charles had looked, how was he coping? As if Erik didn’t spend his share of sleepless nights watching over them when they woke squalling at the world. If anything, he was the more scattered of the two, running on too little sleep and worried about a cough Pietro had picked up. At the time he had been angered that they thought so little of them, but as time progressed it worried him that the twins would think he didn’t care for them because he didn’t wear his emotions openly. Charles had told him that it was nothing to worry about, that the people closest to him could read him well enough, the children will know. Only the children won’t be seeing him anymore, who knows what they’ll think.
The excitement had turned to lead in his stomach, sneaking tendrils of fear into his throat, so thick he could choke.
He needn’t have worried himself so, the minute he walked into that room and saw his beautiful Charles struggling to keep a hold on a wriggling Pietro while Wanda kept trying to bury herself into his shoulder the knot of emotions loosened and fell away, leaving behind a warm blanket of peace and happiness. That sight was everything.
As soon as he was spotted, Pietro scampered off of Charles’ lap, tearing away from him and barrelling over shrieking “Vati! Vati!” As if he could somehow have forgotten the boy in his absence. Charles stood, grinning at him like a loon with Wanda still clutched in his arms, wide eyed and curled into him, but never once tearing her eyes away from her absent father.
“Hello love” he murmured to Charles, stooping low to scoop up Pietro on his way to give him a soft kiss hello, sifting a hand into his thick, soft hair and pressing their foreheads together. His heart sang just to hold him close once again, feel those warm, unsteady breaths dance across his lips. Lord but had he missed him. And if he let a soft “Shatzi” whisper between them, well it was their moment to savour.
Of course the domesticity couldn’t last, as Pietro, babbling at high speed in his ear, took that moment to tug great handfuls of his hair as Wanda pawed at his face. He didn’t have enough words to encapsulate just how much he’d missed his family. His stunning fiancé and their darling, beautiful little twins. “Hello to you too lieblings” he smiled, if a little unsteadily, pressing kisses to their faces.
“Erik” Charles sighed if a little tremulously, shifting Wanda over to him as they took their seats. She instantly curled into him, chubby little hands fisting into his shirt, her tiny frame so delicate in his arms. Pietro, still his usual ball of energy ready to go off at any moment, attempted to semi climb him before Erik could calm him, throwing his arms around his neck as much as he could and hugging him with all the force a four year old could manage. Erik couldn’t help but marvel at how tiny his little boy was, as he held him close, steadying him, his hand could span almost the entire of his back.
He took that moment for himself, cuddling close to the children, still so young, too young for him to be gone from their life for so long. He could feel himself melt, unable to stop the bright blossom of warmth in his heart at the feel of his family around him once more as he pressed heavy kisses into their hair, just breathing them in. Charles was giving him that fond look again, like he couldn’t fathom how he’d gotten this lucky which was stupid because Erik was he lucky one. Erik was the one who didn’t deserve this much perfection in his life, and yet here they were, the three most precious things in his world.
“Vati, Vati, guess what guess what guess what?” Pietro chattered in his ear, pulling on his hair in his excitement and effectively breaking the moment.
“What?” he smiled, leaning back to be able to actually see the four-year-old face suddenly in his.
“Mr Hank said I’m the quickest runner ever! Faster than everyone else!” he babbled, jumping up and down on Erik’s lap to his immense displeasure. Still, he hid the pain behind a barely exaggerated smile, beaming down at the little ball of energy.
“Did he now? Well done bienchen!” he crowed, squeezing him tight into a hug until he began to wriggle, whining a long, drawn out “Vati” in the way only children can. Erik’s reply was to grin a little smugly at him, cooing “Well I’m just so proud” and ruffling his pale hair with the hand he had free, making him squirm and giggle.
“Vati” Wanda joined, tugging on his shirt to get his attention, “Vati listen”
“Yes herzlein?”
“Mr Hank said I’m the smartest in the whole class! He said I am super smart like him except when we do art he doesn’t let me make sc- sculp- make things anymore ‘cause he said it was dangerous”
“Did he now” Erik chuckled, jostling her on his lap, “Were you a little troublemaker Princess Wanda?”
“Nope” she insisted, shaking her head and giggling.
“Are you sure?” he pressed, jostling her again.
“I’m a good girl aren’t Petey? Mr Hank loves us” she giggled, turning to Pietro who was nodding his head furiously with all the conviction a lying child can have.
“Does he now?” Erik chuckled, turning to Charles who was not even trying to hide his indulgent smile.
“I’m afraid the children do tend to run rings around our dear Dr McCoy, it’s quite the pair of pranksters we have here” Charles indulged with a fond smile, reaching out to ruffle Pietro’s hair as Erik had done, much to his chagrin.
“Papa” he whined again, pulling back as much as he could.
“Vati I maked you a shark but papa said they wouldn’t let me give it to you so I have it in my room”
“Did you now herzlein, are you going to keep it safe for me until I come home?”
“Yes Vati, but it’s not fair, I wanted you to see it” she whimpered, tears forming in her big green eyes in the way of all small children.
Erik looked at Charles a little hopelessly, aware of the guard eyeing them up, no doubt getting ready to tell them he couldn’t hold his children, and didn’t that just break his heart. But as her whimpers turned to tears he scooped her up in his arms, ignoring the officer for the moment and murmuring “Well how about you draw me a picture of it, so that I can see what it looks like hm? I always love getting the pictures your papa sends me”
She seemed to still for a minute, before smiling brightly and offering a cheery “Ok”, the teary eyed child from earlier gone completely. Both men had learned to be wary of that smile, shared by both twins. It usually spelled trouble, and not always the fixable kind.
It was at that moment, they came to the simultaneous realisation that somewhere during the course of Wanda’s outburst Pietro had squirmed his way off of Erik’s lap.
“Erik, where’s Pietro?” Charles asked, with a dawning horror.
“He’s- crap when did he-”
Their growing anxiety was cut short when a loud shout from the door, far larger than its creator, called out “Vati, who’s that”, his shock of white hair and pointing finger all that was really visible from across the room.
“Pietro you get back here” Charles chastened, rising from his seat as both turned to the boy and ultimately to the face peering at them through the door. As soon as Erik made eye contact, he fled as fast as he could, which in this case meant he ducked down behind the door.
“Vati! Papa! He disappeared! Look” He cried, as Charles strode over and scooped the flailing child.
“Pietro you do not run off like that you hear me” he scolded, carrying him back to their table, as a blush climbed up the back of his neck, trying to rival his scowl.
“But Papa he disappeareded!” he insisted, trying to get another look at the door.
“What are we going to do with you, bienchen” Erik grinned, even as Charles turned his scowl onto him.
“He takes after you, that’s for sure”
“Oh don’t be mad Charles, at least he has character even if our little changelings did get swapped for a couple of devils”
“I’m not a devil!” Wanda piped up cheerily.
“Are you quite sure about that? What about Petey, is he devil then?” he joked, although his attention turned slowly back to the door, a deep frown settling on his face.
“Vati why was that man all red? Is he a devil too?”
“You embarrassed him Petey, no one likes to be caught spying” he replied, distractedly, his gaze still locked firmly on the door where he could have sworn that Russian mobster had been. What his name, Azazel? Yes, that sounded about right. Azazel Neyaphem.
“Oh I can’t imagine why, surely you’re, um, friends must have known we were coming? I know you Erik, you’re useless at keeping secrets when you’re excited” Charles grinned, tickling Pietro to distract him as he tried once again to scale him and make an escape.
“Oh, yes they, um, they knew. I must have just, uh forgotten is all. Forgotten I told them, I was so looking forward to seeing you again” Erik babbled, embarrassment crawling up his neck because of course he couldn’t have hidden his friendless nature from Charles. His fiancé was always making friends wherever he went, be it staff, students or strangers on the street, he was the personable one of them. Erik, well it took time to get past his defences, time and a Charles-like ability to dismantle his fears.
“Erik, I know it’s an unfathomably tough situation and I can’t even begin to compare, but you are making friends right?” the look of concern was too much for Erik, who was torn between wanting to look away and kiss it right off of his face.
He did neither, instead replying “Of course I am Charles, it just took me by surprise that he showed up is all. I wasn’t expecting it, just like I’m sure he wasn’t expecting this little rascal to point him out” and began tickling Pietro as a distraction. It worked all too well, as his son began shrieking with laughter, struggling in Charles’ grip in another bid for freedom. “You are a lively little devil aren’t you bienchen" he chuckled.
“Hank recommended I get him tested as soon as he’s old enough. He thinks he might have some form of ADHD.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised, there is so much energy in that little boy, too much for a child I wonder” Erik smiled, still mindful that they were being watched as he ushered Wanda to the seat beside Charles. As much as he wanted to hold them for as long as he possibly could, he feared to push too far lest they have their visiting rights revoked. “I am so sorry you have to raise them all on your own”
“Erik, love, don’t stress, you just get out of here in one piece and come back to us, that is all I want. I don’t want you to worry about me, I have the house and the children and our friends” his voice wavered towards the end, and he gave a trembling smile.
“I will, shatzi, I’ll be home before you know it” Erik smiled, reaching over to wipe away a stray tear.
“I know you will my love, Emma tells me things are going well on her side. I’m not allowed to tell you much but she thinks we’re in with a real chance here Erik”
“You hear that leibling, Vati might be home very soon”
The twins perked up at the news, babbling excitedly about how their papa made them go to bed on time and how it wasn’t as fun when they weren’t both doing the voices for their bedtime stories and they miss him singing to them, before bed, soft lullabies in his mother tongue.
Charles and Erik smiled softly at one another as the twins chattered on, a precious moment preserved just between them. Embarrassment at being caught by another inmate and caught out in his lie by his fiancé vanished, and left behind that same warmth. His family was with him, warm and solid and real and he couldn’t be happier or more in love. If only their visit could last longer.
“Don’t frown my love” Charles murmured over top of the twins chattering, Erik meeting him halfway as he leant across the table to kiss the little wrinkle between his eyebrows, wiping it away with the pad of his thumb.
“I love you” was his reply. He could feel his face going all soft again but fuck it all, his family was with him. It might not last long, their session would no doubt be ending soon, but for now he was surrounded by the most important things in his life and he was so very in love. For the moment his happiness shone.
--- --- ---
Back in his cell it all felt like a dream. His Charles, his flawless, faultless, sweet Charles and their perfect twins had been here. Yes Charles had visited before, but somehow this felt completely different. This felt more like a dream than anything else had, not his arrest, not his sentencing or his first few days inside. They had been reluctant to go, of course, Wanda had cried and clung to him for all she was worth and Pietro had kicked up a storm, wailing and clinging to him a tight as he could. When they’d finally tore the two away from him, weepy and clingy, and Charles had said goodbye, well that was just the final straw. He’d made a valiant effort to hold back the tears, smiling up at him and whispering his goodbyes somewhat wetly, but as he pulled him in for one last kiss, the way he had at the court, the way he had last visit, his barriers broke, and Erik wept openly. He kissed Charles for all he was worth, pouring every ounce of hope and despair and excitement and love between them. The goodbyes were always the hardest.
And then he found himself sat on the mattress he called a bed, staring down at his hidden little collection of pictures and letters from Charles and the twins, some original, some photocopies of them from when they went missing in transit. They gave him a sort of bittersweet happiness to behold, joy tainted with the tang of distance. Being away from them got more painful each day, but he was doing this for them, so they stayed safe and happy. So that they could stay with Charles.
The last thing he wanted right then was visitors, which was apparently what he was getting.
There had been a tentative but insistent knocker outside for a while. They appeared shortly after he returned from his goodbyes and hadn’t left yet. Occasionally he’ll get a barrage of knocks, then silence, the scuffling of feet, like whoever is out there is pacing, waiting him out before he knocks again.
He tells himself he only carefully re-conceals his letters and calls for him to ‘just get the fuck in here and tell him what he wants already’ because he’s bored of hearing him, not because of Charles’ face when he asked him about his friends, his overall faith that Erik was telling the truth. Maybe it was time to stop playing the lone wolf and actually get himself some allies. When Azazel does enter, he looks about three seconds away from shitting himself in fear. Gone is the red-faced embarrassment when Pietro spotted him, replaced instead with a fear-white pallor.
“Neyaphem” he growled, hoping like hell he’d gotten the right name. Intimidation wasn’t a skill he’d say he was particularly proud of being good at, but it always came in useful. That is, provided he’d gotten the right name.
“Lehnsherr” he replied, his whole demeanour playing at being as threatening as Erik, and really he’d have pulled it off had it been against any other man. Unfortunately for him, Erik had been in situations far worse than this against men far, far more terrifying. There was a reason people didn’t fuck with him, even here of all places.
“Say what you’re here to say and fuck off” he still refused to look over to him, instead lounging back in his bunk, the very air of nonchalance and ill-concealed aggression.
Taking a large breath, he spilled out “I know I wasn’t supposed to follow you, or see that today, but I heard you were getting a visitor a fortnight ago and when I saw him I thought what would someone like you be doing with-”
“Someone like me?” Erik cut him off with a snarl, inwardly enjoying the fear he installed. He’d actually heard of this guy before his own incarceration, he’d been involved in some heavy duty stuff, so to have him viscerally scared of him was thrilling.
“Yeah, not, ok no. This has gone horribly, everyone knows you, you’re a shark amongst the fishes, and well no one expected you to get a visitor and then I saw you and I couldn’t understand how you could be so different in here. But I didn’t tell anybody about it, and I won’t, not about your children, I may be a bastard but I wouldn’t let anyone hurt children to get to someone, that’s a new level of low. Just, please if you’re going to do something to me please, well I’d love for you to reconsider”
“If you so much as think about those children I will gut you” he grinned that grin that struck fear into the hearts of men. Incidentally it was also something the twins dubbed the shark face and screamed with joy whenever he pulled it.
“I won’t I swear I just thought I’d come clean before you think I’m going to do something with the information because I’m not. Okay, I’m going to leave you alone now” he garbled, heading for the door.
Erik sighed, Charles’ earnest grin still at the forefront and called “Azazel”. The Russian stopped in his tracks, back going visibly rigid in fear. First names were a no go around here. “That’s your name isn’t it?” At his shallow nod he continued “I’m not going to hurt you, you know”
“What?” he turned then, face stunned like Erik had just declared his love.
“You shouldn’t have been spying on me, you’re right, but I probably should’ve made more of an effort around here than I have been” he sighed.
“So, you’re not going to kill me in my sleep?” he questioned, tentatively moving closer as Erik shifted to make room on his bunk.
“No, I’m not going to kill you, sit down, you’ve seen them so you might as well know about my family. Unless you’re not interested anymore?”
“Comrade I have never been more interested” he replied, his own grin formidable in itself as it pulled at the scar bisecting his right eye in a way that would fascinate little Pietro.
Erik pulled out the neat pile of letters and the like from where he’d concealed them, straightening them on his lap as Azazel joined him. From the pile, he unearthed a print out of a picture, something Charles had given him as soon as he could. It was of the four of them, Charles and Erik each holding a child to their hip, Charles with Wanda, himself with Pietro. It was taken roughly a week before this shit all went down, when the four of them had gone to the beach with Charles’ sister Raven, who had taken the picture, a perfect snapshot of a perfect day.
Erik pointed out each one of them, relaxed and happy and smiling trailing a finger lightly down each of their forms as he explained “This terror here is Pietro, he’s a tiny ball of energy, if you let him he’ll run off so fast you don’t notice until he’s gone, like you saw today. This is my princess Wanda, don’t let the innocent look fool you, she is just as mischievous as her twin, and this here, this is my fiancé Charles, I honestly don’t know where I’d be without him in my life”
“Your family is beautiful” Azazel replied, gaze fixed on the picture, “How did you get people to misjudge you so well? I’d have never thought the same Lehnsherr I followed to his visitation out of some morbid curiosity was the same as you are in here”
Erik chuckled “Natural misanthropy mostly, Charles is the people person, I prefer to stay away. That’s how we made such a good team, he could inspire people with his friendly nature and smile and I would be the power behind our marches”
“So you just avoid people because you don’t like them? Not because you’re planning to murder everyone here in cruel and unusual ways?”
“Is that how I come across? No, really I just want to do my time and get out, although apparently that doesn’t fly well with Charles” Erik laughed, and after a moment Azazel joined him.
“What say you, and feel free to tell me no, but how about, if you’re looking to please your fiancé- that is so weird- but if you want to, my rep wouldn’t take any harm from having one of the more feared men in here on my side” Azazel hedged tentatively, fully prepared to retract the information if it looked like Lehnsherr wasn’t happy, although he seemed more to be churning it over.
After a time, he spoke again. “I don’t see why not, as long as you don’t expect any bullshit favours, I think I can deal with having someone on my side in here. In any case, you’re pretty much as feared as me”
Azazel smirked then, large and with a faintly mischievous edge to it, something Erik wholeheartedly reciprocated.
“You know people are going to shit their pants when they learn we’re comrades in here?” Azazel snickered.
Erik joined him, adding a growled warning that “Don’t think killing you in your sleep isn’t still an option you know”
“Nah, I know you’re a big softie now. Besides, who else are you going to tell next time you get a letter huh?” he laughed, and Erik joined in.
To anyone passing, it would have been a chilling sight, the Russian devil and the iron hearted Lehnsherr laughing together with a sound that could strike fear into the hearts of men. In fact, people would run from them in the future, bending to their will if there was anything they wanted. As predicted Azazel’s business would boom, whereas Erik would still keep to himself, although often seen in cahoots with the mobster. The two would form a solid and unstoppable friendship that would make Charles so very proud. For the moment though, they sat in Erik’s bunk, laughing over pictures the twins had send and reminiscing about the outside.
For that one snapshot of a time, life was almost good.