Come Home (Cherik fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Erik

Erik Lensherr was sitting up in the study in the safe-house, gripping a glass of brandy to his chest.

His promise to Charles was ringing in his ears.

'I'm coming back for you. I'm not giving up until you are by my side. I'm coming back, and you will come with me. Whether you like it or not.'

And he would. He would drag Charles out of that mansion and strap him to the plane if he had to. It didn't matter. By the end of the year, Charles would be by his side and in his arms.

Where he belonged.

He wanted to go back now, but now wasn't the time. He missed Charles. He was worried about him. He thought about him and what he was doing and who he was with. Of course he was worried he would find someone else, but that would not deter Erik. Charles was his salvation; a drug that he would never come off of.

He was brought back into the present when his door was opened softly.

"Erik?" It was Rav- Mystique. He had to call her Mystique, he reminded himself.

"Yes?" He asked her. "What is it?"

She sighed. "Can I come in?"

No. "You might as well." He got up, poured another glass and refilled his. "Take a seat." He gestured to the armchair across from the green leather sofa.

She sat and took the glass.

"What's on your mind?" He asked her softly, taking a comfortable seat in his sofa. He took a long pull, almost emptying the glass.

She sighed. "I . . . Miss him." She said quietly, pulling her knees to her chest.

He encouraged being proud and not hiding. He really didn't mind that she didn't wear clothes in her blue form. Preferred it almost. But in this position, he was glad she was wrapped in a blanket.

He nodded, his eyes probably looking like he was in deep thought. "I suppose you do. He is your brother after all."

Erik was many things. Sympathetic, usually wasn't one of them. However, even in his nastiest of moods, Erik would never deny or say that Raven and Charles weren't brother and sister. Ever. It didn't matter that they weren't blood.

She nodded, obviously reluctant to say whatever she was planning to.

He sighed. "Raven, I'm not going to be mad at you because you miss your brother, or Beast, or Havoc, or Banshee." He said as gently as possible. "I'm not expecting you to cut ties with them either. They aren't our enemies." He said plainly.

Because they weren't. Erik wished that he thought they were because it would have been so much easier. But they weren't.

It was a team: a team of children he had found out and helped train, and a man he was hopelessly . . . Infatuated with?

No, that term was too bleak

Raven looked hopeful when he started paying attention. Apparently she had been saying something.

"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" He asked of her, rubbing his eyes.

She giggled. "What have you got up in that head of yours?" But she knew he wouldn't answer seriously, so she continued. "I asked if . . . I could go visit?"

He nodded, finishing off his glass and going to refill. Again.

"Would you disguise yourself?" He asked, his back to her. But he didn't ask harshly. Simply curious.

She knew the difference.

"I'm still trying to decided. I don't want to lie, but I don't want to be turned out." She had obviously given this a lot of thought with a lot of self-conscious.

Erik chuckled, know it probably wasn't the best way to treat this delicate situation. Turning to face her but leaning on the mini bar, he spoke calmly and with humor. "Your brother? Turning anyone out? I'd bet a million dollars that he wouldn't turn out Azazel if he came knocking, let alone his own sister."

And it was true. Erik didn't have a doubt that Charles might even be happy that she had showed up on his doorstep.

She smiled sadly. "True. But then there's Alex . . . and Sean . . . And, Hank." She said the Beast's name in a whisper and that did not go unnoticed by Erik.

He nodded, after a moment. All of the children loved their mighty professor. Even Angel and Darwin had loved him in their short time with him. He was sure that they would be doubly protective of him after . . .

But that was Erik's fault. Even though she went with him, everything bad that could be stuck with the little family was all on Erik. Surely, at least, Charles would see that.

He shook his head in swift, short motions so Raven wouldn't notice. "I see your point. But Charles runs a tight ship over there. He wouldn't let one of his boys be unkind to a lady."

"I think he stopped regarding me as a lady when I walked into his room without any clothes on, clad in blue scales."

Erik winced at that.

True, Charles had been upset. After Erik had sent Raven off to bed, wrapped in his sheet, Erik had walked to Charles's study to see how he was doing.

Charles had damn near had a panic attack! He was curled up on his own green leather divan, clutching a glass of whiskey to his chest looking like he was contemplating the meaning of life. Erik, after having a good laugh, had . . .  comforted Charles best he could.

It had been so hard for him, though, not to simply pull Charles in his lap and card his hands through Charles's luxurious locks.

He sighed again, not wanting to relive the memory, filled with regret.

"No." He said, adamant again. "No. You just surprised him. He was fine with it. He was just scared."

"Sacred?" She stood up quickly. He was surprised at her gusto, but he figured it was justified. "What would have to be scared about? It isn't him who has the blue skin! It isn't him with the clashing red hair! It isn't him who looks like a freak!"

He stood up too, but he didn't shout. "Of losing you." He said simply, plopping back down again.

The brandy was starting to get to him.

She looked to be at the edge of tears. "What?" Her lip quivered.

"Of losing you. That's what he was scared of. He didn't care about you hiding. He never wanted you to be anybody but who you were. However, he didn't want you hunted down, captured, and experimented on.

"He didn't want you as somebody's lab rat or somebody's hunt." He sat down the glass. "There are a lot of things you can say about your brother. That he's an egotistical bastard, for example. But the one thing you can't say was that he ever wanted you to feel anything less that what you're worth; that he ever meant to do anything to harm you."

With that, he left the study and stumbled down the stairs to his bedroom.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

He lay in bed that night wondering of what he could try and dream of. He was sure he was going to have a nightmare. Usually that's what he had: nightmares. But now they were always about Charles now.

Even the good dreams eventually turn into that day at the beach.

He shuddered. He wanted to get to the other safe house before he got to Charles. He wanted to get somewhere where the government couldn't get them; where the people couldn't get them.

It would just be him and Charles.