Taming the Wild

More Than You Know

Charles assumed a serious face and tried not to think about how luring Erik's lips looked right now and how he felt this strong desire to press his own mouth there to taste them... He swallowed, despite his mouth going dry. He had to force those sinful thoughts out of his mind.

"Yes. We need to discuss things. I am listening." the teacher said

"Do you have any idea why Shaw attacked you?" Erik asked

"No." Charles shook his head "And although he had the chance to kill me, he didn't. I don't quite understand why."

Erik huffed. "What could he possibly want from you?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"How long do you know him?" Erik asked again

"Since forever. I mean, he's my step-father's friend and he--" Charles trailed off.

"... and he...?" Erik repeated urgently "Charles, I know it's late and you're probably tired but focus!"

"No, I... I do have a theory..." Charles said and chewed on his bottom lip.

Erik waited a few moments and when he saw his friend hesitated to speak, he decided to give him a little encouragement. "I can't read your mind. That's your talent, not mine. You're going to have to say it with words. Whatever it is, even if it's hard for you to speak of it, you're not alone. Never alone. You have me, my kids, Miss MacTaggart, Hank McCoy... you have friends. And we all care about you very much."

"It may not be very pleasant for you to hear, Erik." Charles said, biting his lips even more nervously.

"Never mind me!" Erik groaned "Tell me your theory."

"I think Shaw's one of those people who hunt mutants." Charles said carefully.

Erik paled. Charles didn't know what exactly hunters did to Erik - and he didn't check in Erik's head either because he did make a promise not to violate Erik's mind and he wasn't going to break that promise - but it was clear that something had happened. Erik's history with that kind of people was definitely not pleasant. Charles could tell they've hurt him badly and he didn't want Erik to suffer that pain again.

Realizing that Erik wasn't going to say anything now, Charles continued.

"I have a sister." he said, trying to sound calm. "She's a mutant too. That's how we met actually. She's adopted... I was a lonely child and she came to steal in our kitchen and I decided to keep her." he gave a small chuckle at the memory. "The best thing that's ever happened to me in my life." he sighed, feeling his heart getting heavy again at the loss of Raven. "Our step-father never approved of our gifts..." his voice got darker now "He hated it actually. He called us freaks... hired people to 'get the evil spirits out of us', to heal us... But nothing ever worked. Raven and I spent most of our childhood in fear of what they'd come up with next. But at least we had each other."

Erik's hand instinctively found Charles' on the table, compassion in his eyes.

"And then Shaw came." Charles sighed, not removing his hand from under Erik's palm. It felt really nice, actually, to feel Erik's emotional support like that. "Shaw was an old friend of our step-father's. Apparently they went way back but we never knew the exact story. They used to write each other a lot of letters, had some business partnerships and Shaw visited every now and then. He lived in America, you see, so a trip like that wasn't easy to do and yet he somehow always managed to be there whenever my step-father called for him." Charles frowned, wondering how did Sebastian Shaw always travel so quickly. He shrugged. "Well, anyway. This time was different. This time Shaw invited my sister with him to America. Raven... she wanted out of the house. I was just hiding in a corner, withdrawing myself into my own world, practically living in my head. But she needed to go outside, to see things, to actually live. So she agreed. She went with him. And then we received a letter from Shaw that she was gone. She disappeared."