Chapter 13
Charles sat on the large, comfortable bed he had so recently shared with Erik. With the man he loved who he thought loved him. Was Erik capable of love? Did Genoshians factor that in during their cold hearted decision making process?
He had raged for hours in his mind, going over and over his conversation with Erik until at long last he'd fallen into a fitful slumber. When he woke, he had no idea how many hours had passed or what day it would be on Earth. He changed out of his sleep crumpled clothes and into a fresh outfit, still trying to make sense of the absurd turn his life had taken.
He opened the picture window in the bedroom and gazed out into the void of space. He wished he had someone to talk to, but all of his friends from his old life didn’t have clearance for this and they certainly weren’t close enough to discuss the intimate details of his bond with the Admiral at any rate.
He thought about calling Moira or Sean. They’d be happy to have him check in with them and he finally had most of the answers they’d been after all this time. But he wasn’t quite ready to share.
He knew firsthand the kind of panic that would ensue and he wasn’t ready to reveal that he’d blundered his way into a marriage with the most powerful being in the galaxy.
He sighed and ran his fingers irritably through his hair. What he needed was a good cuddle; he wished he’d thought to bring Albert along. No use for it he supposed.
He’d just decided on asking to speak to Agent Munoz when he heard soft shuffling on the other side of the thin panel that led to the main room of his quarters.
Mew! He turned towards the panel quickly, heart in his throat. That sounded like- meow! His excitable, yowling kitten.
He rushed into the main room without a second thought only to find Erik gingerly attempting to pluck Albert’s claws from the fabric of his uniform.
“Albert!” his cat leapt off of Erik and twined himself eagerly around Charles’ ankles until he stooped to pull him into his arms.
He looked at Erik, bemused by this unexpected and rather sweet turn of events.
“You said you like to talk to him when you’re upset. I know you don’t want to talk to me right now so I thought I’d bring you the next best thing.” Erik said quietly, eyes shifting from opaque to a deep winter blue-the darkest Charles had ever seen them.
The color was beautiful.
He stiffened his resolve and refused to be charmed by the thoughtful gesture. A prickle of concern drifted down his spine.
“How did you get him here?” he asked, breaking his own rule about not speaking to Erik for the foreseeable future.
Erik tilted his head and took a cautious step closer, “I teleported down to Moira’s home, he came right to me.” He reached forwards and gently rubbed Albert between the ears, pulling a rumbling purr from the little traitor.
Charles sighed, why did he have to seem so kind and sincere? “Thank you, Admiral. I’m happy to see him just now. Is it possible for me to speak to Agent Munoz?”
Erik blinked and bit down on his immediate reaction to refuse. He wanted to keep Charles here with him until he understood and accepted all Erik had to share with him. He glanced at the time. They had a few hours until his backup plan arrived.
“Of course. Would you like to see him in person or speak to him over coms?” he asked solicitously.
“In person if he’s available, please tell him it’s urgent,” Charles said firmly, still cradling Albert against one shoulder.
“Of course. He should be awake, its morning. you slept through the night.” Erik nodded and tapped out a quick message on his tablet. “He’ll be here momentarily. Can I fetch you anything while we wait?” he ran his fingers softly against the small hairs at the nape of Charles’ neck sending goose bumps chasing down his arms.
Charles thought of a few ways he’d like to work through his frustration with his overbearing mate. He pushed those thoughts aside; sure the Admiral would only see angry sex as a reward for bad behavior.
He took a few steps back and shook his head, “No. Thank you. Albert will need a water bowl and some food soon,” he added after a surge of guilt rushed through him at the crestfallen look that came over the Admiral at his physical rejection.
He perked up a bit at that, “I’ll see to it.”
Charles set Albert down to explore their exciting new surroundings. He seemed intrigued by the feel of the walls beneath his claws. Charles wondered idly about programming a scratching post for his quarters but decided against it. Knowing his cat, he’d just ignore his toys and keep clawing at the walls.
He used the wait time to make use of the facilities and freshen up for the day. By the time he came back out of the bathroom, Erik had designed and implemented some sort of cat heaven inset into one of the walls of the main room.
Albert yowled loudly from somewhere in its depths.
~Captain Summers and Agent Munoz here to see you~ the door chimed a few minutes later. Albert leapt out and ran under the sofa at the sound of the disembodied voice.
Charles straightened up and glanced at the door then at Erik who looked entirely blank about the arrival of their guests. “Thank you, let them in please.” He tried to hide his surprise as the panel slid open silently.
Armando stepped in first and surveyed the room; he relaxed his vigilant stance when he saw Charles. He stepped in and clapped him on the shoulder, giving him an appraising once over before turning to make introductions.
“Charles, you remember Captain Summers, I know you only met briefly before.”
They shook hands warily, almost as if the Captain was afraid to get to close to Charles. He kept eyeing Erik who had stepped in close behind Charles to greet the other men with a severe look.
“Captain Summers will accompany me to the bridge for a debriefing, take as long as you like.” The first part was said to the group at large; the last was directed more genially to Charles. He tried not to soften towards Erik, but he was making it very difficult.
Captain Summers looked like he wanted to protest but he said nothing and simply wrapped his hand around Armando’s wrist for a quick moment before preceding Erik out the door with a last, longing glace at the two Earthlings silhouetted by the moon.
~~
Erik marched Captain Summers away from his living quarters and towards the bridge, leading him into an empty conference room before they got arrived.
“The ambassador and I have officially mated.” He said abruptly
“Congratulations,” Alex said automatically. He was impressed; the Admiral certainly didn’t waste any time when it came to matters of the heart.
“Have you spoken to your paramour about our culture?” Erik asked abruptly.
“Not yet, nothing in depth. He’s very clever and has been happy to spend time learning about our electronics and star charts. He’s a natural, and very curious. I don’t want to scare him away,” he confessed dourly.
Erik wasn’t interested in how clever Captain Summers’ mate was, but he tried to be polite. Charles would approve. Besides, according to his mate, he needed to practice his small talk. “Have you introduced him to your brother?”
~~
Armando was horrified and that was putting it mildly. In the few weeks since he’d come to know Dr. Xavier, he’d come to admire and trust the man, but what he was telling him beggared belief.
“Charles, if this is true then we need to alert the government now,” he stood from his perch on the couch and began pacing, running a hand over his close cropped hair in a nervous gesture. “We can’t sit on this; it’s bad enough that we’re up here without backup!”
Charles cut him off sharply, “Think about it! What good will it do? We can’t rebel! We have no hope against their level of power. If they want to take every woman and girl on Earth there’s nothing we can do to stop them! But maybe with diplomacy we can…mitigate their plans.”
“General Stryker has been working on a counter offensive. They may have come up with something by now,” Armando suggested weakly, knowing it was a farfetched hope even as he said it. But they needed to at least examine the possibility.
Charles sank down onto the couch with a sigh, hanging his head wearily, “Eri-The Admiral said they give the women a choice. I don’t know the…details of that. I didn’t ask.”
Armando nodded in acknowledgement and swallowed thickly, “We need more information. I’ll request to send a message to Moira with what we already know. I don’t know about you, but as much as I want to leave, I think us being here is the best thing right now. I’ll get as much as I can from Ale-Captain Summers and you get what you can from the Admiral. This changes everything,” he kicked the leg of the couch in frustration, earning him an agitated hiss from Albert.
Charles couldn’t help but agree, but as embarrassed as he was to admit what had happened between them, he couldn’t let Armando blunder into the same trap blindly.
“Before you call Moira, I have something else to tell you…” he began shakily.
Armando turned to him with pursed lips and a weary sigh. “Somehow I doubt you were saving the best for last.”
~~
Erik desperately wished Charles was here with him. Alex took after his mother’s people, they had too much energy, too much emotion, too much everything and he’d never been comfortable around the incredibly volatile members of their species.
Humans were also highly emotional; perhaps this Armando would be a good match for the young captain.
“But he-put his lips against my cheek on our second night out together. If that’s not a declaration of intent then what is?!” he demanded hotly. “He’s done it more than once!” he reiterated angrily.
Erik hoped he didn’t shoot off a concussive blast out of frustration. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with engineering about a plasma mishap.
“Calm yourself, Captain,” he ordered flatly; hoping the younger mans military training would be enough to bring him back from the brink. “You and this young man need to talk this over-calmly- and come to a workable solution.”
Alex scoffed, “he’s going to hate me, especially since your ambassador is probably scaring him to death right now.”
Erik hoped his concern that Alex’s prediction was true wasn’t printed on his face. “We’ll deal with that when we come to it, in the meantime we have a change of plans. Neither human is to communicate with Earth until we’ve made our formal declaration.”
Alex frowned, “Armando won’t like that, how much longer will it be?”
“Hank says they’re ready at any time. We’ve notified the humans to give them time to prepare themselves. We go live in one day,” he said harshly. Normally he enjoyed this part of the invasion and induction process, but he couldn’t look forwards to anything with Charles on tenterhooks around him.
Alex perked up a bit at the brief timeline, “Alright, I can work with that, it gives me some time to smooth things over with Armando, but not so much time that he’ll feel trapped.”
“Good. Remember to keep him safe and as happy as possible. Maybe take him on a lunar walk if he’s open to it. Very few humans have set foot on their moon, it would probably mean a lot to him.” Erik said absently, remembering Charles’ amazement when he described visiting planets with far less gravity than Genosha.
“Great idea, Admiral,” Alex seemed reluctantly impressed. “You’re becoming quite the romantic.”
Erik thought that over briefly before nodding his agreement, “I guess that’s just the human in me.”
~~
Charles and Armando were deep in conversation about the mess they’d found themselves in.
“What do you mean I’m his mate?!”
“From what I understand, if you’ve touched his face, you two are bound for life,” he said flatly, watching Albert lose his mind in the multicolored obstacle course Erik had created for him.
“That makes no sense; this must be some kind of joke!” Armando snapped.
Charles huffed tired sigh, “Does the Admiral seem like the joking type to you?”
Well, the agent couldn’t argue with that one.
~Admiral Lehnsherr and Captain Summers to see you~ the door chimed. Albert dove for cover while the humans shared a nervous look.
“Enter,” Charles said, proud that his voice didn’t tremble on the word.
Erik stepped in first with a blank look on his face, Captain Summers entered just behind him.
“We’re sorry to interrupt your meeting gentlemen and will be happy to let you continue after this interruption.”
“What is it?” Charles asked warily.
“We will be having Earth’s formal induction ceremony into the Federation in just over 24hours. Until that time you will not be allowed to contact Earth. I’m sorry but partial information will only lead to panic. We’ve done this many times before and would rather avoid massive instances of self harm or a last minute counter offensive,” Erik said sternly.
Charles swallowed apprehensively while Armando looked quietly mutinous.
“Agent Munoz, feel free to remain here with Ambassador Xavier or return to your quarters on Captain Summers’ ship. If you’d prefer to remain on the flagship you will be assigned quarters nearby.”
Erik tried to hide his irritation at the silent conversation the two humans struck up through minute shifts of their facial muscles. “You don’t have to decide now, as I said we simply wanted you to know our plans, and the limitations placed on you for the time being,” he continued shortly.
“Thank you, Admiral. Will that be all?” Charles asked coldly.
Erik hated to see Charles so upset, but hopefully his next news would put him in a slightly better mood. “Actually, you have a guest.” He said, giving Charles the small smile that always softened his heart. Judging by the slight shift in his stance, it worked yet again.
“Who?” he asked, voice bright with reluctant curiosity as he leaned towards Erik like a reed in the wind. He cherished the evidence that his mate wasn’t as indifferent to him as he was acting.
“If you’d like to come with me? You as well, agent. You both still have free reign of the ship.” He reminded them softly
The shared another speaking glance before turning back to their hosts. Captain Summers had been silent since they arrived, but he watched Armando’s every move like a man dying of thirst spying a glass of ice water.
Armando sighed, “Please, let’s meet our guest.”
Charles irritably wondered if Erik hadn’t kidnapped Moira at the same time he’s brought Albert up. It seemed like the kind of thing the Admiral wouldn’t deem important information.
He allowed Erik to place his hand gently against his elbow and guide him out of his quarters and down a long seemingly straight hall that he only noticed was built on a curve after several long minutes of walking.
He tried not to be fascinated by the numerous odd creatures they passed on their way, or the intermittent open panels that revealed the depths of space. He didn’t let himself ask any of the multitudes of questions that filled him as each moment passed.
He knew that slaking his curiosity would soften him more towards Erik and he couldn’t afford that just yet.
He glanced back to see Armando walking arm in arm with a gloomy faced Captain Summers who was murmuring something to the frowning agent.
They stopped suddenly in front of a panel that looked like any other. Charles wondered how he was meant to find his quarters again, but pushed that concern aside for later.
“Here we are. We’ll leave you to it. We have much to prepare,” Erik said softly, stepping back regretfully with a light brush of his fingers against Charles’ wrist, sending a shiver up his arm.
Erik was just about to turn and leave when Charles grasped him firmly by the wrist and lifted his larger hand up to examine it like he had just a few days before on their world tour.
Erik’s skin was still rough and smooth with no lines, scars, or visible bones. His fingers were still as strong and flexible as anything Charles had ever felt, but now on the tips of those sensitive digits he had paper thin fingernails. They were hard as stone, perfectly shaped, entirely smooth and only a few shades darker than his skin.
“Erik? How?” he asked, knowing his brow was wrinkled in consternation.
The Admiral pulled him away from the other couple so they could speak in semi privacy.
Erik seemed confused as well, “We change each other. With our transfer of DNA, our bodies shift to become compatible.” He said softly, eyes shifting to a pale mint green.
“Transfer of DNA?” Charles leaned into his warmth, drawn like a moth to flame. He couldn’t help the pull he felt towards the Admiral.
“Our kiss,” Erik explained, unblinking.
Charles thought back to their extended make out session before they had intercourse. That must have been the transfer that allowed Erik to begin to change to suit Charles.
“How long until you’re done changing?” he asked, wondering if it was a frightening or painful process for the other man. Knowing Erik would play any discomfort off as weakness.
“Anywhere from several hours to a few days. Depending on how much we need to change to become compatible.”
Charles felt somber at the news. Erik was truly bound to him for the rest of his life. It was a sobering realization.
He glanced over the taller man’s shoulder to see Captain Summers place a soft kiss to Armando’s right temple. He couldn’t see either man’s face, but from their body language everything wasn’t lost between them.
“Erik-” he began softly, ready for more answers when the panel they’d stopped in front of slid open without warning revealing a…Naked? Blue? Scaled? Woman? With short, red hair plastered to her head.
Charles gaped.
“I told the ship to let you in and it said you were busy. You can’t call me halfway across the galaxy with an infant then ignore me, Erik.” she put her hands on her hips and glared at Erik through wide, glittering eyes.
He gave her his customary smile, “apologies Lady Darkholme. May I present my mate? Dr. Charles Xavier, Ambassador of Earth and his esteemed colleague Agent Armando Munoz, Representative of the Federal Government of the United States of America.” He bowed slightly in deference to each man as he introduced them.
Her eyes widened even further at his words, “Get OUT. You took a mate?” she looked Charles over with eager eyes before turning to give Armando the same treatment. “And you’re with a plasma burner?! Braver man than I!” she laughed. Alex looked less than pleased at her announcement.
Armando frowned, “A what?”
“Come in, come in!” She stood aside and gestured for them to precede her into her quarters. “I can see these guys haven’t told you anything. We’ll get everything cleared up in no time,” she said with cheery, maternal warmth.
“Go see to your plans Admiral, Captain.” She pressed her fingers to the wall, sliding the panel shut in their faces before turning to face her shell shocked guests with a sympathetic smile, “You guys look like you’ve been through it.”
She received two dumb nods from the Earth men and felt for them from the bottom of her heart. She knew better than anyone how baffling Genoshian courtship was, and she also knew the cure. “Let’s get you some wine.”