STEEL-MINDED | erik lehnsherr

CHAPTER FOUR

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen," Ororo said gesturing at the overturned oak tree in the middle of the lawn.

"It's perfectly alright, No one got hurt," Charles said looking at the tree with a hint of amusement, "All it did was give us a demonstration of your lightning harnessing abilities."

The professor seemed much too happy about the whole situation. Grace agreed with him in the respect that it did give a good demonstration of Ororo's powers and that no one had gotten hurt but still, she could almost feel the telepath's internal laughter.

As much as she loved Charles, the man seemed to find joy in chaos sometimes. Grace worried about him, he needed to have a life as well as being a teacher. 

She wrapped the towel around her shoulders tighter, the light wind not helping her wet shirt be anything less than cold. If only it was sunnier then she might dry faster.

"Impressive," Erik noted from behind Grace.

His response didn't really surprise her. From what she could tell- and had been told- he was a 'chaotic good' as one of her old game-obsessed friends would have said.

"Very," Grace agreed, "And to think, just a few years ago mutants were afraid of their powers."

Erik nodded. His demeanour had shifted to reveal someone who was so emotionally exhausted it might just kill him.

"Erik," Grace said, reaching out and touching his arm, "The world is so much better than you realise. There is hope."

He turned to her.

"You remind me of Charles," He said, "He said that once, right before we were fired upon by hundreds of both Soviet and American missiles."

Grace looked down, her hand dropped to her side. Erik wasn't sad or angry, he was just using what he knew to make an educated guess she tried to tell herself.

"You've been through a lot, Erik. I understa-"

"So've you," He interrupted, "You've seen horrors Charles and Hank couldn't imagine if they looked into your mind. What reason do you have to believe they won't just kill you on sight?"

Her mouth fell open. She wasn't sure where this was coming from but it pissed her off.

"You're such a pessimist," she snapped, "It's annoying. Why can't you just have hope like the rest of us!"

"Everything I've ever held dear has been destroyed by people. Why should I have faith in their goodness?" Erik snarled.

"You.." She began angrily before trailing off.

"See," Erik said, "You can't think of a reason."

"Your parents were human."

"They're both dead by the hands of other humans," Erik said, "And if I wasn't mutant I'd be outcasted for my beliefs. What about your family? Those humans. Do they fit into your belief of humanity?"

The open wound in her chest was a type of pain she'd never experienced. Worse than a broken heart, than a broken bone. It filled her whole body, every inch of her on fire. She was dying and agony was the only thing she could feel.

"M-Mom..." she choked out.

Grace was frozen in place. The image of the woman who'd given her life screaming at her to go back to hell. The image of nightmares, her nightmares, the ones she found herself waking to in a cold sweat. 

"Grace?" Charles asked coming up beside her.

She didn't reply. She shook slightly as she stood there unaware of her surroundings. Charles turned to Erik.

"What have you done?" He asked worriedly.

"What makes you think I did anything?" Charles raised an eyebrow. Erik sighed. "I was talking to her about humans." 

Charles narrowed his eyes, knowing his friend had left holes out of the truth. The professor turned back to Grace.

"Grace? Can you hear me?"

"Man, you broke Miss Denton," Peter said to Erik appearing out of thin air. Erik gave him a look of loathing. 

Charles reached up to his temple with two fingers at the same time reaching out to Grace's thoughts. 

"Grace?"

His jaw clenched in pain as he found his way into her memories. Her anguish becoming his. He focused on her good memories, pulling them from the back of her mind, hoping they'd snap her out of the trance.

She blinked, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Grace?" Erik said reaching out to touch her shoulder. He pulled back when their skin touched, a sharp pain coursing through him like electricity.

"Grace your mother isn't here. It's me, Charles. I'm right here. I just need you to let me help you come back to us."

The students who'd gathered to see what had happened to cause the shake had turned their attention to Grace and Charles.

"Back to the school," Hank informed them, trying to shoo some of them away. Begrudgingly they did as told, trailing back inside.

"Whatever Erik said, you don't need to think about it."

Grace shuddered, her memories escaping as tears down her cheeks.

"Grace. Please. We need you."

She blinked again, this time her eyes focusing on something instead of being spaced out. She looked up and saw Erik looking down at her concerned.

"What?" She asked. 

He didn't reply, instead, he dug into his pocket and fished out a clean handkerchief. He held it out to her. She frowned, confused. Instead of handing it to her, he reached up and wiped away the water on her cheeks with it. She seemed to realise she'd been crying and turned to Charles. He too had tears in his eyes.

"Were you in my..." She began.

Charles nodded. He didn't say anything, he turned and wheeled himself away across the field.

"I don't..." She began.

"I'm sorry," Erik said, "For what I said."

"What did you say?" She asked utterly confused, it was as though she'd missed the last few minutes.

Erik opened his mouth to tell her but stopped.

"It doesn't matter."

"Pft," Peter scoffed, "A-Yeah, it kinda does. You just had like a mental break and it was this guy's-" He pointed at Erik. "-fault. So I'm saying, Yes. It does matter."

With that comment, Peter was gone. Grace looked at Erik expectantly. 

Instead of telling her he reached out and patted her on the shoulder before leaving her alone on the lawn.

"Love you too, guys," Grace said sarcastically before trudging away Erik.