Chapter 2
Goodbye, old friend.
Goodbye, Erik.
Erik left behind the helmet intentionally, as a peace offering of sorts. He'd hurt Charles again. He never wanted to hurt Charles, Charles was one of the few good things that had happened in his life. Charles was the only person that knew everything about Erik, and despite this still loved him. Yes, they loved each other, their lives and souls were entwined together Erik admitted to himself as he flew above Washington DC. Charles knew it too, and deep down he knew that Erik was sorry for hurting him again. Even if he would never admit it out loud. Charles would know what Erik leaving the helmet behind meant.
As he flew over the Potomac, Erik felt the metal he'd forced through Wolverine. He stopped, briefly, and rose the asshole out of the water and onto the deserted bank, letting the metal fall out of him. He might've been sent from the future, but he was apart of Erik's past as well. It had been nearly 30 years now since Erik had been liberated from Auschwitz but he hadn't forgotten the faces of the men that had liberated them. Logan probably didn't remember Erik, a scrawny boy of 15 that he'd been, but Logan hadn't changed and Erik remembered him.
He thought of the boy that had broken him out of the Pentagon. One of Charles' students most likely. His words had not left Erik's mind since.
They told me you control metal. You know, my mom once knew a guy who could do that.
Who was this boy? Who was his mother? The boy had said his name was Peter Maximoff, but Erik had never known anyone by that name. Nor had he told many women of his gifts. The boy had to be about what, 17? He couldn't be from Emma, or Raven, or Angel, or even Moira god-forbid - none of them had had children then. Who had Erik known 18 years ago?
Natalya Lehnsherr
She had been his first love and his first heartbreak. He had taken her name when he'd known he needed to change his name. When he could no longer be Max Eisenhardt. He had loved her, had thought perhaps he could have a normal life with her. And then one day she was just gone. Erik devoted himself to finding Shaw and other Nazis. He had closed himself off completely and sworn he'd never love again - until Charles.
Surely Peter couldn't be-
No. No, Erik couldn't, Erik wouldn't let himself go down that train of thought. He wouldn't let himself have that kind of hope. No, no it was all just some sort of coincidence. There were plenty of other mutants out there. Charles and Emma were both telepaths, and they were probably not the only ones of their kind. No, this Peter boy's mother had just known some other mutant. Maybe someone like him, or just some other telekinetic.
Unconsciously, Erik had flown himself to Westchester. He could feel the mostly empty house, with an absurd amount of metal underneath that hadn't been there 11 years ago. Probably labs and training rooms like the bunker they had trained Alex in. There were tunnels too he could feel, leading out away from the house into the woods. Charles was an optimist, yes, but he wasn't a fool. A school full of mutants, even a secret, hidden one in the countryside was still a sitting target for people like Trask and Stryker. The children would need a way to escape if worse ever came to worse. Erik reached out with his powers, and how good it felt to be able to do so. He felt nothing in the air - most planes in the Northeast would have been grounded and there weren't any fighter jets or helicopters approaching him. Nor was there a caravan of armed vehicles or police cars approaching on the ground. He hadn't been followed. Good. Erik felt into the mansion, only feeling three distinct bodies. Charles in his wheelchair, Hank with his spectacles and watch he always wore, and a third with dog tags. The metal wasn't familiar to him, ruling out Logan or Moira. Alex most likely, Charles had mentioned he'd been drafted on their way to Paris.
Erik lowered himself to the earth, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do.
Charles smiled as Hank pulled into the garage, feeling a familiar mind close by.
Welcome back, Alex.
Good to be back, Professor.
"Hank, Alex is home," Charles said aloud, not missing the way Hank immediately perked up at the news. He helped Charles from the car into a wheelchair they kept in the garage, and the two made their way to the kitchen where they found Alex waiting for them. He and Hank were on each other in an instant, Alex practically jumping into Hank's arms as they passionately kissed. After a few long minutes, Alex pulled away to give the Professor a much-needed hug. "It's so good to have you back," Charles told him truthfully. Alex was like a son to him, to him and to Erik when things had been simpler. Having Alex after everything that had happened since Logan had barged in was like a much-needed balm on the soul.
"Well we have Raven to thank for it," Alex replied, less enthusiastically. He and Raven's relationship had never been on great terms, and her leaving with Erik did nothing to help matters.
"What do you mean?"
"This guy, Stryker, was going to take me and a few other mutants somewhere - to Trask probably - but then Raven showed up impersonating a colonel and got us all sent back to the States. I don't know if I'm actually discharged or not so I thought it better if I came here rather than go to my parents," Alex explained.
"Oh, so you didn't just want to see us?" Hank questioned, looking a little deflated. Alex rolled his eyes at him and pulled him in for another kiss.
"Of course I wanted to see you, bozo. Now, what the fuck happened in Paris?"
They sat down in the kitchen, eating a meager dinner of cereal, much as they used to when it had been just the three of them and Sean. Alex explained his days in Vietnam, or the parts he could anyway. Charles and Hank explained everything that had happened with Logan, from him showing up claiming to be sent from the future to them breaking out Erik out of the Pentagon to Paris and then DC.
"And in this Logan guy's head, in his memories, you saw my brother Scott too?" Alex questioned. Charles nodded.
"I did. He was much older, he and Logan didn't meet until Scott was already a teacher here - years from now."
"And Scott is a mutant? He'll manifest when he's older?" Alex didn't ask will his powers be like mine? But Charles knew the question was still there.
"He'll lead the X-men when he's older. But yes, his powers will be like yours, if somewhat more ... refined." Refined wasn't exactly the best way the describe it, but it'll do. "He's what, seven now? You'll have to wait a few more years." There was something in Logan's memories that almost perturbed Charles. He had seen himself, had seen Hank, Erik and Raven, and even Moira - but he hadn't seen Alex. He'd seen Scott, as well as girl who was like Sean, and man like Azazel but blue, but no sign or mention of the oldest Summers brother. Granted, Charles had seen only fragments of the future from Logan's perspective and there were still swatches of Logan's memories that were missing, but it still worried Charles. He shook the thoughts from his head. That was in a different future. They had changed things. The future would be different now. Alex would be fine.
They finished eating and Charles told the two men he would be going to bed, knowing Hank and Alex would disappear to the other side of the house the moment his head hit the pillow. Hank and Alex dutifully followed him to his room, but instead of letting Hank help him as he normally did Charles bid the two goodnight at the door. He was planning on sleeping in his undershirt and boxers anyway, too exhausted to properly get ready for bed. He heard Hank and Alex scampering down the hall in the direction of their rooms as Charles undressed and hoisted himself into his bed. As he leaned over to turn off the bedside lamp, he finally addressed the presence that had been lurking in the shadows of the bathroom.
"Well, are you just going to stand there and watch me sleep all night?"
Erik emerged, still in the outfit he'd been wearing in DC.
"Charles-" he started but Charles was having none of it.
"I am not in the mood to talk to you right now. Either take off that bloody awful outfit - seriously, Erik where did you even get that - and come to bed with me, or get out of my house. Oh, don't give me that look I do still have enough self-respect to not let you fuck me yet. We can fight or fuck in the morning. Right now, I'm going to sleep." With that, Charles turned off the lamp and pulled the covers over himself. A few minutes later, Erik climbed into bed with him, spooning Charles as he had eleven years earlier. Charles let him, and the two fell into a dreamless sleep.
Charles awoke when he felt Hank and Alex stirring, quickly drawing away as he felt them grow more excited. He lay in bed for a few minutes, content just to lay in Erik's arms with Erik's mind - calm as it usually wasn't - next to his. He would have basked in it more, all those years ago, if he had known how things would end between them. But things could be mended. Logan had said that Charles and Erik had sent him, together. And he was right: Charles wouldn't give up on someone he loved. Carefully, he extracted himself from Erik's arms and made his way to the shower. When he was done, he pulled some proper clothes on, something more befitting a Professor, and made his way to the kitchen - leaving Erik to sleep peacefully. Charles made himself toast and a cup of tea, and was joined not long after by Hank and Alex. Both were happier than they had been in years, and it was enough for Charles to not bring up the hickies on both of their necks.
"So I was wondering-" Hank began, taking a bite of toast. The three men jumped as Peter suddenly stood in the kitchen.
"I've got a bone to pick with you," he said, uncharacteristically angry.
"Who the fuck are you?" Alex exclaimed, as Hank grabbed his arm.
"Who the fuck are you?" Peter returned.
"Alex this is Peter, from the Pentagon, Peter this Alex, he was one of my students," Charles introduced, trying to calm everyone down. "Peter, what's the matter?"
"Who's idea was it to get me to break Magneto out of prison?" Peter asked.
"It was Logan," Hank answered. "Why?"
"Peter if something happened, just tell us and we'll help you," Charles told him.
"And did this Logan guy say why it had to be me?" Peter continued. "When you came, you asked if I was a teleporter and he said I was just fast. How did he know? He said, I heard him say, "when I knew him he wasn't so young." What did he mean by that?"
"Peter, just calm down. Sit down and we'll explain the whole situation, ok?" Charles tried to placate the boy. Peter blurred in and out as he sped around the room and house quicker than the speed of light. "What's brought this on?"
"I just need to know why you had to find me, specifically, to break Erik Lehnsherr out of prison," Peter said, coming to stop in front of Charles. His back was to the door so he couldn't notice Erik quietly coming down the hall, keeping to the shadows so he wouldn't be noticed.
"Why is it bothering you so much? Has something happened?" Charles pressed.
"Yeah, something's happened," Peter retorted dryly. "My mom told me that Erik Lehnsherr is my fucking father!"