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The sight of Charles like this is something Erik has never seen before and something he never wants to see again.
No matter what their current relationship is, or how mad Charles might be at him, Erik doesn’t care. He’s worried about the man he loves and he doesn’t care if he shows it, nor does he care if Beast and Logan see it.
As soon as Charles starts to fall, memories flash in his mind. Standing on the beach, looking behind him in time to see Charles falling to the side, the pain and heartbreak that followed it. He’s determined not to let that happen again.
He dives after him, once again. Beast and Logan move too but Erik beats them there, his arms wrapping around Charles, helping to pull him to his feet.
“Come on, Schatz,” He mumbles, “On your feet.”
“Why can’t he stand?” He hears Logan ask from behind him.
“He needs his treatment,” Beast replies, and Erik can’t help but turn his head and glare at him.
“No, he doesn’t,” Erik replies, turning back around to Charles. His arms are locked around him, making sure he stays up, sitting him on a block behind him. He watches as his hands come up to his head.
“I can hear them, Hank, I can hear them,” Charles says, voice strained and Erik wants to take that pain away, wants to wrap him up in his arms and take him away from all of this. He would do anything he could to protect him from the world but he knows that right now there’s nothing he can do.
Erik hears Beast run off behind them and wants to stop him but he knows that Charles would be angry. It leaves him trapped between wanting to do what he knows he should do, what would help them all, what he would normally do, and stop Beast, and what he knows Charles wants him to do. He doesn’t want to make Charles mad at him all over again, things are just starting to look up for the two of them.
“Pull yourself together. It’s not over yet,” Logan says, standing over them as Charles seems to struggle to keep his hands away from his head.
Erik reaches out, his hands wrapping around Charles’s, eyes locked on his face. He looks like he’s in pain and Erik wants to cry, but this isn’t about him. For a moment, Charles’s eyes lock on him, and then they dart over to Logan.
For a moment, Erik wonders if he should try to stop his thoughts, try to blend in. He needs to do something to help Charles and the overwhelming feeling of his powers coming back. It was only a few days earlier that Erik felt the same thing, only to him, it was like recovering a missing limb. To Charles, it seems like a negative experience, something he’s been running from for years. He couldn’t imagine hating his powers so much.
“You don’t believe that,” Charles is saying and it pulls Erik from his thoughts, looking over to Logan, where Charles is staring. Erik takes a step back to let the two of them talk.
“How do you know?” Logan asks, and Erik knows the answer before Charles says anything.
“As these go,” Charles taps his legs, “This comes back.” His hands move to his head, meaning his powers. “They all come back.”
And again, Erik wants to hold Charles, pull him into his arms, into his head. He once commented how he appreciated Erik’s mind, the feeling of it, their minds being tangled together. Maybe he can still provide that kind of sanctuary for the telepath. He wants to be his sanctuary, a safe place for Charles, somewhere for him to rest and recover, a way to escape.
But he doesn’t know how to offer that to him now.
“Not like this, I’ll need you.” Erik realizes the conversation is still going on around him, “We can’t find Raven, not without your powers.”
And then Beast is coming back and holding out that damned needle, “I added a little extra because you missed a dose,” Beast says.
“Charles,” Logan says and Erik looks at him.
“Liebling, bitte,” Erik whispers softly to him. He has no right to ask for anything. He knows that, but this isn’t just about him, it’s about the future of all mutants they’re talking about and he still wants to do his part, whatever he can do.
Charles clears his throat and looks up at Erik. It seems to talk him too much effort, but he manages to look Erik in the eyes. “Do me a favor.”
“Anything,” Erik whispers back.
“Would you help me to my study please?” Charles asks.
Charles looks uncertain about what they are doing, but he wraps his arm around Erik’s shoulders anyway, and Erik slides his arms around his waist. His other hand goes to his chest to keep him up and they begin the slow walk up the stairs.
“Stop thinking about carrying me,” Charles sends to Erik and it almost makes him jump. It’s been so long since he felt the other man in his mind, so long since he’s heard his voice in his head and known that Charles really was in his head, not just a hallucination.
Erik manages to push those thoughts and worries aside, “I always think about having you in my arms, Liebling,” He sends back without a second's thought or hesitation.
Charles gives him a half-hearted glare as Erik uses his powers to open the door to Charles’s study. He tries not to look disgusted at the state of the room but, from the feeling he gets from Charles, he picks up on the feeling anyway.
They stay silent until they are outside the closet door and Beast opens it, revealing the wheelchair sitting inside it.
“Are you sure about this?” Beast asks from behind them and Erik wants to turn around and punch him, but, still, he feels like he’s walking on thin ice with Charles, ice he doesn’t want to break and fall through.
“Absolutely not,” Charles replies, but Erik holds his hand out and the chair slides out of the closet with ease, settling down in front of them. Erik helps him to turn around and he eases him down into the wheelchair.
“We’ll need to get you down to Cerebro,” Beast says and Erik turns to look at him.
“You two go on. Charles and I will be down there in a minute. Get everything set up.” Charles glares at Erik, but doesn’t say anything, even when Beast and Logan look at him for his input. After a moment, he nods his head once and the other two leave.
When the door closes behind them, Charles turns to look at Erik, “What are you wanting?” He asks softly, sighing.
Erik shakes his head, “I just wanted a moment to talk with you,” He replies softly, “A moment to say thank you, for doing this.”
“Well, I’m not doing it for you, am I?” Charles asks.
“No, I know you’re not,” Erik knew everything wasn’t going to be magically better after the one night the two of them shared, with him telling Charles everything, but he had been hoping that it would be better than this. “I’m just trying to say…you’re doing well and I’m proud of you for doing this. I know you don’t want to, and I know you’re in pain, but you’re doing it anyway.”
For a moment, Charles just looks at Erik, then nods as he turns away. “Yes, well…thank you,” He whispers.
Erik doesn’t move. There’s a tension there and he can feel that Charles is wanting to say something else. It takes a while but eventually, Charles looks back up at Erik, a resigned look on his face.
“I’m sorry. I know I’m being difficult right now but-“
“No,” Erik says, interrupting him, “I understand. I mean, we have different powers and feel different about them, but I did just get mine back as well. I know how overwhelming it can be. You have every right to struggle with this. But, Charles, I’m not going anywhere. Not this time. I’m staying by your side, and I mean that.”
When Erik looks into Charles’s eyes again, he sees they’re red-rimmed and wet, “Thank you, my friend.”
“Anytime,” Erik replies, “Now, we should go down to the others and start the search for Raven. Do you think you’re up for that?”
“Again I must say, absolutely not,” Charles says, but there’s a set line of determination on his face and in his voice. He’s going to do it anyway and Erik is going to let him.
A few minutes later when Charles is wearing Cerebro and screams out, Erik is there to wrap his arms around him again, whispering soft words to him in German until he begins to recover.
Then he just has to hide his jealousy as Charles dives into Logan’s mind and finds more of the comfort he needs there.
Erik meant what he said. He’s not leaving. Not this time, he has Charles by his side again and, even if their relationship isn’t perfect, he’s ready and willing to put in the work to get them back to where everything is good. He just hopes Charles is ready for that too.