Crossfire

**Chapter 15**

A/N So then, this is why the story is rated Mature, hence the asterisks. If that's not your deal, stop reading at "Never" and start up again at "I looked at the numbers". If you hit ctrl-f, you can search for that and all will be well.

I also realised that I never addressed the fact that Sky is JFK's sister. I tried dropping hints throughout, but there is a reason behind it that will be revealed in the sequel, Azure. Anyway, you're not here to read this. You want the story, so, here you go, friends. Enjoy.

I walked up to my room, still thinking about what Charles, Erik, and I had talked about. We would never be able to guess who would and wouldn't be afraid of mutants. Both of their ways had flaws and I, of course, had no way at all. I shook my head, an action that I did quite a bit, I had noticed. It didn't matter. I changed into a tank top and a pair of sweatpants to sleep in. I was going to need at least a little bit of rest, even if my nerves didn't want to let me sleep. It was better to have nerves keeping me awake than nightmares. I wasn't sure that what Charles had done would work. I certainly hoped that it would.

I thought about his idealistic view of the world. Wouldn't it be nice if that world could exist? I wasn't sure that he was sure of it himself. He needed something to believe in, I supposed. And Erik was so pessimistic. He was stuck in the days of the past. He had never had human kindness. Just mutant kindness, as long as Shaw was excluded from the list of mutants he had encountered. I had tried to show him a better way, but I think it had been too long engrained in his brain that anger and violence were the way to go about this.He was broken. Then again, so was I. I wasn't exactly a saint myself. I looked in a mirror.

I had gained some muscle this week. That was a good thing, I supposed.

There was a soft knock at my door. I opened the door. It was Erik.

"Hey." I said. "Come in." I backed away to let him in.

"I just wanted to... I saw your face when I said that I was going to kill Shaw. I thought that was what you wanted." He said.

"It was. Once. But times change. Things change. I changed. I suppose that I thought... nevermind. If that's something you've got your mind set on, then there's nothing I can say to stop you, you stubborn man." I chuckled.

I was trying to make light of a bad situation that I didn't agree with. There would be no stopping Erik. He had ways of stoppin all of us. Well, maybe not Charles, but the rest of us, he would have no problem. I had kept him from killing the innocent. I had done my best. I had tried to, anyway, and I liked to think that I had succeeded, at least for the most part.

I turned and walked away from Erik. He lightly touched my back.

"Your scars... I'd never seen them before." He lifted my shirt slightly, running a hand across them. "They're by your wings."

"It was a favourite pass time of the scientists." I took his hand and put it just over where my wings would meet. "If you were to press down there, you would force my wings from their resting place. Naturally, this can be quite... forceful. They did it so often that it left scars."

"And you'd still defend them?" He said softly.

"I'd defend Monica and the people that are like her. Never those men or those like them." I turned to face Erik. "Never the men like Shaw."

"Never."

"Never." I said again, kissing him.

He pushed me back against the wall, pulling on my hair to angle my head. He had my arms pinned above me, his body pressed against my own. He moved to the crook of my neck, his breath tickling my skin and making my shiver. He had a slight stubble that heightened the sensations I was feeling. He pulled one of my legs to wrap around his waist. I had given him complete control, something I was fine with. He let my arms go. I grabbed his hair. He moved back to my lips.