Reaching Out
After Anya had gotten all the tears out of her system Charles had led her to the kitchen where her siblings were eating. Wanda had been satisfied with one sandwich and was currently staring in disgust as Pietro downed another sandwich. Hank also looked flabbergasted at the little boy's appetite.
“Does he normally eat this much? This is his seventh sandwich” The furry blue man asked the older girl. Charles looked astonished as well when he heard the amount of food the boy was shoveling down his throat.
“No but he’s been constantly hungry since his power came in last week” Anya shrugged she didn’t know much about the gifts her siblings had. She knew Pietro was extremely fast now and that weird things happened when Wanda got upset.
“Seems like he has an astonishingly fast metabolism” Hank muttered to himself. Anya was looking at the twins and was grateful they had a safe place to stay for the night. She hadn’t been sure of what they would do about shelter as it would be harder for a thirteen year old to rent a motel room than it would be to buy a train ticket. Things seemed to be working out for the best she thought, taking a bite of her sandwich. The professor didn’t just know of their Papa, he had been friends with him.
“Hank, can I talk to you for a minute outside? Will you kids be alright for a few minutes?” Charles asked an unknown emotion in his voice.
“Yes professor we will be fine; Thank you for getting the twins some food. What do you say Pie, Wands?” Anya thanked him she wasn’t used to having adults do things for them. It had been just her and the twins against the world for as long as the twins had been alive. It was all changing though now they would soon be reunited with Papa and everything would be okay.
“Thank you” the twins chorused.
“Uh no problem” Hanks blue cheeks turned a shade of purple. The professor and Hank left the kitchen, Anya was sure the professor wanted to explain the situation. Hank probably knew her Papa too.
“Is the nice man in the wheel chair going to help us find Papa” Wanda asked, looking at her elder sister expectantly.
“Yeah sissy is he, you know Mr. Hank is pretty neat. He said I can have as many sandwiches as I want. He didn’t even care about how much it costed. Do you think we can stay here? I like it here. It's really big and they have a whole bunch of fields for me to run in” Pietro seemed to be developing speed talking as well as running.
“Yes Professor Xavier has said that we can stay as long as we need and even offered us a spot in his school. He actually also knows father and they're friends I think.” Anya said, actually sounding happy for once. This news seemed to dramatically cheer up the children.
***
Charles was internally freaking out he hadn’t wanted to talk to Erik at least not until he was well and truly over the man. Now three children show up on his doorstep claiming the radical mutant is their father. How do you tell someone the child they thought had died was alive but not only that had two more that he didn’t even know about? He would also have to be the person to tell Erik that the children he didn’t know he had and the one he thought had died were neglected by their human mother. Erik was unstable at the best of times he can’t imagine the man taking that sort of news well. The only saving grace was that the eldest daughter seemed to think Erik Lehnsherr hung the bloody moon. So he couldn’t have been that bad of a father.
Once they were outside of the door Hank stopped him.
“What’s up?” Hank asked his face the color of confusion.
“No Hank, we need to go to my study where they can’t hear us. Your reaction will more than likely be quite loud” Charles declared. He himself didn’t know how he had kept from blurting out some sort of colorful language in front of the little girl. Hank didn’t say anything he just followed Charles curiously.
When they made it to the study Charles locked the door behind him and wheeled his chair to face Hank. His hands were clasped tightly in his lap and he probably looked a little ill.
“What’s wrong Charles?” Hank asked, taking a seat in one of the overstuffed arm chairs.
“The eldest one told me they had a father with a mutation that thought she was dead” Charles began and Hanks furry brows shot up.
“Well shit that’s a problem isn’t it” he muttered, what kind of mother would let someone think that their child was dead just for being a mutant. Probably the same kind of mother that abandoned her children and obviously underfed them.
“Oh my dear Hank it’s an even bigger problem that you would think. Take a wild guess who their father is.” Charles responded rubbing his temples that were beginning to ache.
“Ooh that bad! I don’t know” Hank honestly could think of anyone old enough to father Anya that they knew, maybe Azazel.
“Oh yes Hank that bad. Anya gave me the name Max Eisenhardt but showed me a picture of our dear friend Erik bloody Lehnsherr” Charles groaned and Hank started to splutter incoherently.
“Oh god Charles this is bad how the hell are we gonna tell him. Oh by the way magneto your wife let you think your daughter was dead and gave birth to two more you didn’t know about. That’s going to go over like a turd in a punch bowl. Not to mention this woman abused and neglected his children. He might kill her” Hank was freaking out.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t kill their mother, that actually is a strong possibility” Charles was getting out through the ringer and he wasn’t even dating this man anymore.
“Erik can’t be a father, he has to be the most unstable guy I know. Plus isn’t he gay?” Hank continued in disbelief.
“Oh don’t think I don’t know Hank, I’m going to go down to cerebro and try to get in contact with him or Raven. Also you don’t have to be one thing or the other, really Hank?” Hank didn’t say a word he felt a bit guilty bringing up Charles' relationship to the man in question.
“ Can you keep an eye on the children? You might also want to send Sean out to get them new clothes; the ones they’re wearing are their best. Hell Anya has bloody holes in her boots.” Charles couldn’t help it. He was the closest he’d been to a panic attack since his ex-lover had left him alone and paralyzed on a bloody beach.
“Yeah okay this is weird, Charles even for us. Plus Erik might kill us if his children are dressed in rags when he meets them.” Charles didn’t say anything but he wholeheartedly agreed with Hank. He also didn’t think it would be best to tell Erik something like this over the phone or telepathically, he’d need to do it in person.
“Is the lift functioning enough to go to the basement levels yet?” Charles asked hoping that it would be so that he may be spared the indignity of being carried downstairs. It had been a hard three months adjusting to life confined to a wheelchair.
“Not quite Charles I’ll carry you down before I go back to the children'' Hank said and Charles couldn’t help the sigh of irritation from slipping. He knew he was privileged to even be able to put a lift in his home but he hated dealing with the indignity of asking for help.
“Thank you Hank” he said and the blue furred man said nothing.
Once Hank had gotten him safely to the lower levels of the mansion he wheeled himself to the chamber which housed cerebro. He hadn’t used the machine since before Cuba so he may be a bit rusty. He flipped it on and began searching for Erik already knowing that it would more than likely be a fruitless endeavor due to Erik’s obsession with that god awful helmet. When he couldn’t find Erik he began searching for Raven’s familiar mind and quickly found it. It seemed the brotherhood was camping out in Rhode Island of all places at the moment.
“Raven?” He prodded gently and he quickly felt her annoyance, he couldn’t help but feel the sting of hurt. Raven hadn’t visited once since Cuba, had he really been that awful of a brother.
“Get the fuck outta my head Charles” she snapped dramatically but there wasn’t really much bite too it.
“I wouldn’t bother you if it weren’t an emergency Raven” He sighed, he missed his sister dearly despite the frequent arguments the two would have.
“This better be good Charles” She sent over along with a mental image of her rolling her yellow eyes.
“I need you to get a message to Erik for me. I need him to come talk to me in person” Charles started but was mentally cut off by Raven’s incredulity.
“Seriously Charles he’s not gonna do that, he thinks you hate him” Charles felt flabbergasted how could Erik ever think that he would hate him. Charles had loved Erik almost from the moment he had met the angry man, why he didn’t know the man had more baggage than an airliner.
“Oh he will Raven tell him someone came to the mansion asking for Max Eisenhardt. Also tell him that I don’t hate him” Charles told Raven knowing she would more than likely leave the last part out.
“Is it really that serious” She asked annoyed.
“Yes it is please relay my message I beg you” Charles tried to convey just how important this would be.
“Fine whatever I’ll do it but I’m not getting involved in your beach divorce” She said and he almost had the distinct impression that she was smacking on some gum.
“That’s all I ask, I’m sorry for bothering you” Charles didn’t wait for a response he flicked off Cerebro and buried his head in his hands. This was going to be emotionally draining. He didn’t know if he could handle seeing Erik again knowing that the man wanted nothing to do with him. The children who were upstairs at the moment hadn’t given him much of a choice. He would be strong, he had to be there were more people counting on him than that.
He knew that if he didn’t have the school he would have fallen into the bottle. He was self aware enough to know that. The school would give him focus and something positive to do.
***
Raven rolls her eyes as her brother cuts off their connection abruptly. He seemed to be just as crabby as Erik had been. So sue her if she’s not in a huge hurry to irritate the volatile mutant. Whatever Charles needed to tell Erik could wait until Raven was good and ready.
The thoughts of Charles left her mind as Azazel saddled up beside her. Maybe she could forget about the world for just a little while and have some fun. Charles would have said he was too old for her which made her crave him even more.
“Mystique” his voice was low and rumbling sending shivers down her spine.
“What’s up Az” she batted her large yellow eyes at the red mutant. Azazel was probably the furthest she could get from sweet Hank. Raven couldn’t help but miss him sometimes too. She pushed that out of her mind and decided that she would forget about the world in Azazel’s arms.
Many hours had passed since her conversation with Charles and it was closing in on midnight now. She supposed she better inform Magneto of Charles' little message. He would after all he pissed off if he found out she sat on information for too long.
She wandered off to his quarters knocking briskly. She heard the lock click open and the door swung wide allowing her entrance. Erik was already in his sleep clothes relaxing on top of his bedsheets with a book.
“To what do I owe such a visit. You do realize it’s nearing midnight?” Erik asked in irritation at her interruption.
“My brother contacted me. He wants you to meet him in person he has something important to tell you” She explained plopping down uninvited in the chair in the corner fiddling absentmindedly with one of Erik’s metal paperweights.
“Why would he want to meet me in person when I’m the reason he’s in that god forsaken chair” Erik spat bitterly, his voice full of self loathing. Erik would never forgive himself for being so careless that he hurt someone he loved. Bad things seemed to happen to people he cared about.
“I don’t know Erik, he said someone called Max Eisenhardt visited or someone wanted someone named Max Eisenhardt. I don’t really remember” Raven shrugged. The metal in the room began to shake and she looked at Erik surprised. He had a look of pure rage on his handsome face. Raven quickly realized she made a big booboo.
“Did he say anything else” he spat the metal in the room bending in on itself.
“No, just that it was a conversation that needed to happen in person” She squeaked. She hadn’t seen magneto this angry since Cuba. Erik quickly started getting dressed and she took that as her cue to leave running out before he started taking out his rage on her. What the hell did Charles get himself into, she almost felt sorry for whoever this Max guy was.