Chapter 9
At five in the morning, Tony’s phone rang loudly in the quiet room.
Tony groaned in both irritation and from the soreness in his lower back, as he moved in Steve’s arms to reach for the damned phone, that will, obviously, bring him bad news.
So much for sleeping till noon and having a repeat of their wild night through the entire day.
Steve growled in displeasure when Tony moved in his arms, the genius placed an apologetic kiss to his lips, before answering his phone without looking at the caller ID.
“Yeah?” he murmured, still half asleep and enjoying the warmth Steve’s naked body was radiating. He was always like a human sized furnace. It was addicting to just stay plastered to him all the time.
“Tony.” Charles’ voice greeted him quietly on the phone.
Something in the telepath’s voice made Tony awake immediately, as he sat up on the bed in alarm.
“Charles? Everything alright?” Tony asked in concern, as he felt Steve sitting up too and watching him in confusion.
There was silence on the phone for a few seconds, that Tony’s brain started to reel in worry.
“No, Tony. Everything is definitely not alright.” Charles answered bitterly, managing to make Tony’s heart almost stop.
“What happened? Come on, dude, don’t leave me hanging like that.” Tony pressed the speaker button, after Steve kept poking at him impatiently to know what’s going on.
“I need your help, Tony.” He stopped for a second, before adding meaningfully. “And more specifically, I need the Winchesters’ help.”
***
Dean was sleeping peacefully with Castiel still in his arms, when he heard a bang.
In the next second, he was awake and pulling a gun from under his pillow and pointing it at where he heard the bang coming from.
Only to find himself pointing his gun at a shirtless Tony, who raised his hands in a placating manner and a panicked look on his face. At the same moment, Castiel was also awake and was gripping his angel blade hard.
“Fucking goddammit, Tony! I told you to not wake me up like that!” Dean growled at him like an angry bear, as he dropped his gun on the bed and tried to calm down the adrenaline pumping in his veins. “I could have seriously shot you! Would you be happy then?”
“Sorry, I am sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Tony rambled fast, as he relaxed a little when Dean dropped the gun. The hunter finally noticed how Tony was gripping the phone in his hand hard and the panicked worry in his eyes.
“What’s going on?” Dean asked with a frown, as Castiel looked over at Tony in concern. “Are you alright? Something happened?”
Tony hesitated for a second before answering. “You guys are needed. Like yesterday.”
“Needed where?” Dean questioned, as he immediately got out of the bed to get dressed, throwing Castiel his clothes in the process.
“In Westchester. We need to go now.”
***
Everyone was hastily awoken.
Steve rushed through to make a fast To-go breakfast, because he knew if they didn’t eat on the way, they will not eat for the entire day and that’s not happening on his watch.
In thirty minutes, they were all on the Quinjet and flying towards Westchester.
“I gathered from your rapid ramblings earlier that there is a supernatural problem in the X-Men home.” Dean started as he sat next Tony’s pilot chair. “What I still don’t understand is why the whole team is coming? If it is a supernatural problem, me, Sam and Cas will be able to handle it on our own, you didn’t need to come along.”
“We weren’t going to just let you deal with that on your own, Dean.” Tony rolled his eyes at him in frustration. “It might turn out more dangerous than you expect and could go worse, we can’t take any chances.”
Dean sighed and stared up ahead for a while, watching Tony flying the jet at top speed. Frankly, Dean was worried. Whatever was happening in Xavier mansion was indeed dangerously terrible, if the most powerful mutants he ever met couldn’t deal with it on their own.
He knew the high of their vacation wasn’t going to last long, but he didn’t think it will be gone this fast.
“I am sorry, okay?” Tony pulled him out of his thoughts, Dean turned to him to see that he was staring straight ahead and not looking at Dean. “You deserve a break and it’s not right to drag you guys into trouble like that and-“
“Woah, woah, shut up!” Dean stared at him incredulously, making Tony look back at him startled. “Dude, seriously? After all this time? Something wrong with your so called genius brain? We are family, Tin Can. The X-Men are part of this family and when they are in trouble, we will obviously help. Besides, it’s our job. That’s what we always do. What the hell are you apologizing for, asshole?”
Tony blinked back at him, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Apparently nothing. Never mind then, dick.”
“Damn right it’s nothing, Dumbass.” Dean rolled his eyes with a frustrated scoff.
“You are still mad because I never knock, aren’t you?”
“It’d be nice if you knocked once in a while, or I might actually shoot you accidently at some point.”
“Oh, right, because you keep a fucking gun under your pillow!”
“You have no idea the amount of beings that might try to kill us in our sleep, so someone has to be prepared.” Dean stated with a raised eyebrow, earning an eye roll from the other.
They were silent for a while, trying to process everything.
“Charles didn’t tell you what happened?” the hunter asked the question that was nagging at him.
“No, he thought it was better if he told us in person.” Tony answered with a deep concerned frown. “But he sounded distressed. Rarely anything could put Charles in this state, and also he never failed to protect his school from any threat before. He and Erik are two of the most powerful mutants on Earth, after all. So, whatever it is, it’s serious.”
“Erik must be really frustrated right now.” Dean pursed his lips in displeasure. “It’s really terrible to realize that you can’t protect your home and your loved ones like you thought.”
“Well, this is when we come in.” Steve announced his presence, as he came to stand between them to watch the approaching mansion. “When you can’t protect your home on your own, your family will help you do it.”
Dean couldn’t agree more with him.
***
They all stared at Charles after he finished telling them what happened.
The moment they entered the mansion, they were horrified to see Raven sporting a broken arm, Erik with bruises covering every inch of his body making him groan at any move he made, and a shaken up Charles.
That sight alone put them all on edge.
They gathered in Charles’ study, where Logan and Hank were waiting. The second they settled in, Jean and Ororo trudged in the room, the former crawling up in Charles’ lap, while the latter in Erik’s, both seeking comfort.
It was so weird and heartwarming to watch the usually cold and emotionless Metal binder gather the eight-year-old gently in his arms, while humming a song for her under his breath to calm her a little, despite his obvious pain from the effort.
There was so many layers to Erik Lenhsherr, that Tony didn’t bother to see for years and he was regretting that right now. To see the mutant distressed and worried, but didn’t stop him from being a parent to those kids. Slowly, Tony was beginning to see why Charles fell for that man from the start. Probably saw all that in him from day one.
Those two will be really good parents one day.
After Charles stopped talking, while gently rocking the curled up Jean in his lap, he stared at the Winchesters expectantly.
Tony turned to the Winchesters to find three identical frowns on their faces, looking to be deep in thought.
“Well?” Erik asked carefully, his worry and stress appearing on his face. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“It could be a Shtriga.” Dean stated with a deep frown. “It sounds like it. A black cloak. Light leaving the body and towards it. Targeting children. All the nine yards.”
“Yes, but Shtrigas have a physical presence and couldn’t throw people around the room with their minds. Also they have eyes. Charles said the one he saw didn’t have eyes.” Sam shook his head with pursed lips.
“Could be a Soul Eater.” Castiel suggested carefully, looking like he wasn’t really convinced. “They are also cloaked creatures with no eyes. There must have been a Soul Eater sigil somewhere in the mansion that was trapping one, and was broken accidently in the past week, releasing the creature.”
“Yeah, maybe, but that will mean that it was here years ago and someone trapped it.” Dean looked up at Charles then. “Did something like that happened before? Years ago I mean?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Charles shook his head with a sigh. “I was raised in this mansion. I checked its history years ago and nothing ever mentioned something like that. No one even died with unnatural causes here.”
“Okay, still that leaves us with a Soul Eater or a ghost. Since you say there was no violent deaths that happened here lately or ever, so scratch the ghost part. Still not buying it being a Soul Eater either.” Sam scratched his head in frustration.
“Wait, you said that that thing attacked you last night?” Castiel asked Erik suddenly.
“Yes, it did.”
“And it attacked the both of you too on the same night?” he directed that question to Logan and Hank.
“That’s right.”
“But you were in the east wing and the other attack was in the west wing, how did it manage to attack both teams on such a short time apart?”
That made everyone blink back at him as he stated a very valid point.
“Maybe it has super speed or-“ Clint started hesitantly.
“-Or there is two of them.” Steve finished with a grimace making the others look at him with wide eyes. “Or more.”
“Well, shit.” Logan sighed tiredly. “This is just getting worse by the second.”
“We will not know anything for sure, unless we check the mansion for anything unusual.” Dean reassured as he pulled out several EMF meters from his bag. “Since the mansion is fucking huge, we will separate to several groups to cover more grounds.”
“What is that?” Steve questioned curiously, as he took one of the meters to look it over.
“This is an EMF meter; it reads electromagnetic frequencies that is usually given off by spirits.” Dean explained patiently, as he counted the meters they had.
“That’s pretty awesome.” Tony complimented, as he checked the one that Dean made himself with an impressed look. The hunter flushed a little but shook it off.
“Anyway, where are all the kids?” Sam asked Charles curiously.
“I sent them out in the garden.” Charles answered tiredly. “I can’t let them inside the mansion, while not knowing if they will be safe or not. So I arranged to set up some tents for them in the garden to spend the night if they had to.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Castiel nodded. “And the attacked children? Where are they?”
“We placed them in a room together.” Erik was the one to answer this time grimly. “We still don’t know what happened to them.”
“I need to check on them to see if they did lose their soul or if there is something else done to them. Maybe that will help us in knowing what we are dealing with.”
“That’s a pretty good idea.” Dean nodded, before straightening up to face the others. “We will split out now, I-“
“You better add me in the search groups Winchester or I will swear you will regret it.” Charles pretty much growled at him making everyone in the room turn to him in shock. “This is my school. My home. And my kids, so I damn will help and no one will stop me.”
Dean blinked at him, while looking at Erik from the corner of his eyes, who was shaking his head at him vigorously.
“Sorry, Erik, but he scares me more than you right now.” Dean winced a little earning a satisfied smirk from Charles.
“My God, he can turn into a mama bear when he wants to.” Tony murmured under his breath making Steve almost snort.
“Well, then, in that case, Me, Steve and Charles will take the west wing where the attack happened. Raven, Hank and Logan maybe you should stay with the kids in case something decided to attack them outside. Erik and Tony will go with Cas to check the injured kids. Sam, Natasha and Bucky will take the east wing. Thor, Clint and Bruce check the classrooms, the stairs and the main rooms.” Dean stated firmly as he gives each group an EMF meter. “Check for anything unusual. A cold spot, a strange smell, anything at all. If you do find anything, don’t engage and call the others. Always keep something iron with you, in case you had to engage at some point. Don’t do anything stupid or unnecessary. Any questions?”
They all shook their heads as they stared at him intently, like he had the answers for everything and that rattled him a little. He was just trying to take charge in this confusing situation, that’s all. But he can’t help but enjoy the proud smiles Sam and Cas were giving him.
“Alright, let’s split up.” He nodded at them and they started to move.
Jean and Ororo were sent with Raven to join the other kids outside, but they didn’t leave without a tight hug from Erik and Charles.
Tony clapped him on the shoulder with a smile, before moving to place a soft kiss to Steve’s lips.
Castiel took his hand gently to give him a small kiss as well.
“I really do love it when you take charge like that.” The angel whispered with a small smile.
“That’s good to know.” Dean murmured with a grin and kissed him again. “Look out for yourself, okay?”
“Same for you.” He gave him one last smile, before walking away.
Erik walked up to him hesitantly.
“Watch out for him, will you?” he murmured, gesturing towards Charles, who was talking quietly with Raven before she left.
“I will try my best, if you did the same.” Dean nodded towards Castiel, who was waiting for Erik with Tony.
“You have my word.” Erik gave him a small nod, before moving to kiss Charles gently on the top of his head, then walking out with his two partners.
Dean turned to Steve and Charles, who were looking at him expectantly.
“Well, then, let’s move out too.”