Memories

Chapter Twenty-Four

*WARNING: When it gets to italics, there is sexual violence referenced. Please be careful if you might find this triggering*

"How has your day been, darlings?" Charles asked, smiling down at them.

"It's been so fun! Vati has been playing with us all day, and he lets us eat ice cream and candy all the time!" Kitty exclaimed, and Charles kept the smile plastered on his face as his mind spun.

Vati- Erik. He's having the children call him their father as well. Panic was beginning to set in now; Erik was going to steal the children right from under Charles's nose. Charles wanted to hold the children closely, never letting them go, but he refrained from doing so.

"Oh, really? Then you kids must be extremely hyper," Charles replied, chuckling slightly. They all nodded excitedly, then suddenly ran off, probably to go play some new game that they'd all just thought of.

Charles looked up, realizing Erik was standing directly in front of him now. He hadn't even heard Erik move, but now he was standing right in front of him.

"Can I discuss something with you? In private?" Charles asked, his voice straining to be polite and not angry. Erik nodded, and he followed Charles into the house and to Charles's bedroom.

"What do you think you're doing?" Charles asked, turning to Erik with a glare. "I hadn't known you'd be so angry about the sugar-" Charles cut off his response. "No, Erik! I'm not referring to the sugar! I'm referring to you having the children call you 'Vati,'" Charles growled, calming down after a moment.

Erik stared at him for a moment, trying to decide how to respond. How could he explain to Charles that he was trying to get close to him again? That he was trying to subtly establish to the children that Erik was indeed their father and would be here for a very long time? At Charles's side?

What words could possibly convey that to Charles?

Then, an idea popped into Erik's head.

Erik slowly lifted his hands up, past his head, touching the sides of his helmet with his large, calloused hands. Charles watched those hands intently, trying to figure out what Erik was going to do. Then, Erik plucked the helmet right off his own head, and Charles almost wanted to cry.

The object that had been keeping Charles away from that magnificent, beautiful mind was now gone.

"Read my mind, Charles. Figure out what I wanted when I told the children to call me 'Vati,'" Erik murmured, moving closer to Charles. Close proximity wasn't required for Charles to read his mind, but both enjoyed the closeness.

Charles reluctantly lifted his hand to touch his temple, wondering if this was some kind of trap. Then, like a swimmer jumping into the deep end for the first time in ages, Charles delved into Erik's mind. Charles went a bit deeper than what he'd been aiming for, but quickly found his way back to those thoughts.

Then, he saw it. He saw Erik's thoughts playing over like a movie in his head. He saw Erik's goal- to get Charles back into his arms. He saw Erik's dreams- of being a good father to the children and being a loving husband to Charles, even if it wasn't legal for them to marry. He saw it all like a romance movie playing on a big-screen TV. It blew Charles away with the force of his thoughts.

"Now do you understand?" Erik voice broke through to Charles, drawing him out of that complex mind and back to reality. An intense desire to make those dreams come true took over Charles, making him stare at Erik with the longing in his heart.

Erik seemed to understand, bending over and leaning towards Charles. Charles closed his eyes, awaiting the sweet brush of Erik's lips on his, but the contact never came. Charles opened his eyes, and Erik was just coasting over his lips, suspended in mid-air it seemed.

"Please," Charles begged quietly, and Erik came undone. He pushed his lips onto Charles's, taking Charles's lips with a need that could not be denied. Charles kissed back with the same need, and everything happened too quickly for Charles to process.

Erik somehow got Charles up in his arms, carried him to the bed, and laid them both on the bed without breaking their passionate exchange. Charles's insides were burning with desire, and Erik's mind was clouded with lust. The lack of the helmet seemed to complete the fantasy for Charles, pushing them both to a greater need.

When Erik went to dispose of Charles's shirt, though, that's when the memories could not be suppressed.

Charles rode the bus home- his stepfather was at work and today his mother couldn't pick him up because of a 'Bingo game with her friends.' Really, she was at a bar getting drunk out of her mind. She usually was trying to forget about her new husband's neglect and the screams of her stepson as he was being beat by his own father. Also, she liked to avoid the reminder of her late husband- her son, Charles.

Cain Marko, Charles's stepbrother, also rode the bus. He was loud and obnoxious, mocking Charles loudly with his friends. They were all bullies, really. Charles had learned to ignore bullies long ago. Others mildly tried to defend Charles, but he made them stop. Cain had a way of having revenge against those who opposed him, and Charles certainly wasn't worth that revenge.

When the bus stopped to let Charles and Cain off, Charles already had his keys out. Charles walked in silence, ignoring his stepbrother as Cain hurled insult after insult at the calm telepath. Once they got inside though, Cain's anger seemed to explode.

"What, you think you can just ignore me? You think you can just walk around all high-and-mighty, thinking yourself above me? Huh?" Cain shouted, pushing Charles down in the entryway. Charles tried to get back up, knowing he would lose a confrontation against his much bigger stepbrother. He wanted to get away from Cain.

Cain pushed him down again, hurling vulgar words at his younger stepbrother. Then, he began punching Charles as hard as he could with his meaty firsts, throwing all the power he possessed in his hulking, buff body into his punches.

Charles bit his lip to hold in his cries of pain, and he knew his ribs would be bruised or fractured as Cain started kicking him. Then, the hits turned into Cain ripping at Charles's clothes. Charles wasn't stupid- though he was innocent. He knew what was coming next. Charles tried to mentally get Cain to stop, but Charles's own mind was too unfocused, too fractured, to get him to stop. Cain's mind was too stubborn to be moved.

Charles was begging, screaming, and sobbing for Cain to stop, to think. That just made Cain angrier. "What? You think I'm stupid? I'll teach you to not think I'm stupid!" Cain screamed, taking off his own pants once Charles was completely naked.

Then, Charles's body was no longer his own. Charles locked himself in his mind as Cain mindlessly thrust into his, robbing Charles's of the innocence of childhood. He was only fourteen; Cain was sixteen.

When the memory subsided finally, Charles realized that Erik was staring down at him, crying.

Charles realized then that there was a downside to the helmet being off.

Charles had broadcasted the memory to him, and now Erik knew just how broken Charles was.