Mind and Metal (Cherik)

Chapter 2

Erik stared wearily at the sleeping man as a stray piece of hair had fallen in Charle's face. He had to resist the strong temptation to pull it back.

Congratulations, Erik thought, you've successfully managed to fuck EVERYTHING up.

The last time Erik had spoken out loud was as he watched Mystique fall to the ground, dead, and Charles thrown into the back of a truck. All of Charles' attempts to speak wit him had been met with a cold silence. Erik was to busy drowning in his own thoughts to think about something like communication with his friend.

His friend. Charles probably didn't want to be called that anymore. Erik had seen the looks of disappointment and anger directed at him. He didn't mean to kill the president. How was he supposed to know that the man didn't get a tetanus shot? But that didn't matter, the man was dead. Not only was he dead, but it was Erik's fault.

His fault. Just like Mystique. Just like all the others who thought they were safe under his protection or Charles.

Erik absent-mindedly glanced at the man next to him. Now that they were in the same cell together constantly, Charles couldn't hide his nightmares.  Some nights, Charles would just whimper in his sleep, like he wasn't allowed to make a sound but was going through pain so immense he couldn't help himself. Other times he would  curl up into a ball, as if he was trying to make himself smaller so that no one would notice him. Sometimes he called out names, but only in whispers.

Erik looked at Charles, who was asleep, and wondered how long it would be before the nightmares began tonight.

After a few minutes, Charles began to shake his head frantically and Erik gave up on watching from the sidelines. He walked over to Charles and tapped his shoulder.

Charles, unfortunately , didn't wake up. Instead, he flinched and started to shake his head even faster. Then, he started to scream.

He hadn't screamed in a nightmare, not once in the entire time they were in this cell. He had whimpered, cried, whispered, talked, sobbed, and many other thing, but this was new.

The scream was piercing, and Erik was surprised Charles wasn't waking up from the sound of it.

"Hey, get him to shut up," Guard Number Three said over the intercom.

When Erik made no move to wake Charles up, Guard Number Eleven yelled, "IF YOU DON'T SHUT HIM UP, WE WILL! I VALUE MY EARDRUMS MORE THAN THIS JOB! NOW!"

Erik tried to remember Nina. His memory of her was fading away slowly, when he had nothing to remind him of her but his sorrows. She would sometimes get nightmares, and Erik or Magda would hold her against their chest while their heartbeat calmed her down.

Erik looked at Charles, considering the pros and cons of this plan. Maybe it would work, maybe Charles would scream even more. Oh, well. Only one way to find out.

Slowly, Erik sat down next to Charles. He pulled Charles close to his chest and rocked back and forward. Erik remembered that the motion used to hep Nina, and silently thanked Magda for teaching him how to do this.

Slowly, Charles began to quiet down. Erik's shirt became wet from Charles' tears, but he didn't care. Eventually there was silence once again, and Charles slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

When Charles woke up, the first thing that he noticed was that his pillow was really comfortable. Then he realized he was hugging his pillow so tightly it could be considered clinging onto it, but he wasn't going to admit that. After that, he noticed that his pillow had a heartbeat.

Charles whipped his head up to find his face inches from a sleeping Erik. He's sleeping. Charles hadn't seen Erik sleep for more then twenty minutes at a time since they were in here. Charles attempted to extract himself from Erik's arms, but Erik's grip on him only seemed to tighten.

Bollocks. Charles lightly prodded Erik. "Erik." Charles whispered, but Erik remained asleep.

"Erik" Charles spoke louder, as Erik's eyes opened slowly. He looked around and made eye contact with Charles, and proceeded to have his eyes widened in horror. He quickly released Charles and scrambled away desperately.

Charles remained on the ground in confusion. "Erik, what happened while I was asleep?" Charles asked, doubtful he would receive a response. As expected, no answer.

The prison doors opened and a guard walked in with two trays of food.

"Meal time boys!" Said the overly peppy Guard Number Five. Guard Number Five was the only guard out of twenty-four that treated Charles with any compassion.

"Thank you very much Five." Charles managed a small smile as he took the tray. Guard Number Five set Erik's food down in front of him and returned to Charles.

"How ya doing Charles?" Guard Number Five asked.

"Quite well considering." Charles responded, not wanting to burden the man with the truth of his situation. "And how are Pepper and Peter?"

"They're great. Peters doing real well in school. I'm so proud of him. And Pepper and I are expecting!"

"How wonderful! Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Anything for you Charles,"

"Would you mind showing me the security tape from 2 hours ago?" Charles pleaded.

Guard Number Five looked at Charles quizzically. "Why do ya ask?"

"For my own... personal discovery."

"Well, alright." Guard Number Five pulled out his phone and opened up the tape.

Charles witnessed himself screaming and couldn't help but wince. Erik then proceeded to pull him into his arms and rock him back to sleep until he was calm again. Erik comforted me? Charles glanced over at the man somberly eating his food then looked back at the tape. Erik was now asleep with Charles in his arms.

"Thank you Five." Charles said as the tape ended.

"Sure thing Charles, if you need anything just give a holler." Guard Number Five left the cell, leaving Charles to sit in confusion.