Work Text:
It was nothing new for Erik to be angry. No matter what happens, everyone knows that his reaction is to get angry and this time is no different.
He paces the room, going back and forth, trying to wrap his head around all of this. Quickly, he turns again and runs his hands through his hair, looking at Charles. The rapid movement didn’t help the pressure building behind his eyes, the pain becoming more intense by the second seeming to hurt tenfold as his head whipped around.
“Okay, tell me again what happened,” He says, sighing, “How did this happen? What’s going on?” They’ve been over this thirty times since Charles first contacted him via Cerebro. Twenty-seven of those times have been in the last hour since he has arrived and been waiting outside the lab for some sign of how everything is going.
“Darling, come over here, sit down,” Charles says softly, but Erik shakes his head and Charles sighs. They both know that it would be a useless attempt but Erik also knows Charles refuses to give up on these things.
So, Charles moves on, “The boys were down in the danger room training. Pietro, Scott, and Kurt. Hank was at the controls and might have turned the difficulty up a little more than they were prepared for, or maybe there was a malfunction. Either way, Pietro ended up being grabbed by one of the sentinels in the programming. Scott used his powers on it to make it let go of Pietro who was hit by his energy beams before he could turn them off. Pietro then fell approximately twenty-five feet.” Charles replies.
Erik growls, turning his back to Charles, and looking at the wall that he’s only a foot from. His fist makes contact before he can even consider what he’s doing. With his breathing labored, he slowly turns back to Charles.
“So it’s Beast’s and Cyclops’s fault that my son is in there right now?” The longer he talks, the more his voice raises.
Charles sighs softly, “We don’t point fingers here, Erik. Pietro is an adult, he knew the risks-“
“He’s my Sohn, Charles. I don’t care that he’s an adult. He’s my boy. His being an adult doesn’t make a difference. He’s hurt and I-I…” He trails off, a broken sound forcing its way from his throat without his permission.
Being angry is so much easier than the pain of actually accepting that his Sohn is hurt and there’s nothing he can do about it. Anytime anything happens, he turns to anger, a feeling he’s always had, one he’s comfortable with, one that protects him. But when that falls away, what’s left?
Charles opens his arms and Erik doesn’t hesitate before he moves into them and allows himself to be pulled onto Charles’s lap with little complaint.
“Darling, do you mind if I-?” Charles raises his hand and Erik shakes his head, leaning it against Charles’s raised hand.
He now has a full-on headache, thanks to the anger and the tension that was building through his entire body as a result of it. Another feeling he’s all too familiar with, one that he had permanently for years of his life after he met Shaw up until the time he killed him.
Now though, that feeling is enough to make him feel nauseated. He closes his eyes and allows himself to relax into Charles and the feelings he’s pushing towards him, the headache slowly starting to ease around the edges to a much more tolerable level.
“There you are, love,” Charles whispers, “Now, can we talk about this?”
Erik knows he’s been waiting for this, the moment that the anger fades and he thinks the two of them can talk as what Charles considers ‘reasonable people’.
He sighs, but nods, blinking once and a tear escapes his eye. He ignores it with the hopes that Charles wouldn’t notice, but he does. Of course, he does, his finger comes up and catches the tear, thumb wiping over his cheek.
“We don’t know that Hank is to blame,” Charles starts softly, “And, right now, he’s the one checking over Pietro. He’s helping him, and we’re not going to yell at him as soon as he comes out, right?”
Erik sighs, this patronizing voice is a little annoying, and he hates the part of him that finds comfort in it. The idea of being told what to do, how to react. If Charles was anyone else, he would be angry again, but part of his earlier anger was based on not having any idea what to do, and feeling useless. Now, knowing what Charles wants him to do makes it a little easier. And, of course, with Charles in his mind, he knows all of this.
“Fine,” Erik mumbles softly, resting his head against Charles’ shoulder.
“We’ll at least see if this was something he did or a malfunction before pointing any fingers. But no blaming Scott either. I don’t need to remind you that there are times we all make mistakes with our powers that end in hurting those we love.”
Erik's arms tighten around Charles a little, “If you’re trying to tell me my son and Summers are together, this isn’t the time.”
Charles laughs softly, “Hopefully, this won’t break them up,” He comments and Erik glares at him which only makes Charles laugh harder. “I love you, darling,” He adds, innocently.
“I love you too,” Erik mumbles against Charles’s shoulder.
Hearing someone walking around in the lab and feeling them getting closer, Erik pulls back from Charles, standing up. He reaches out with his powers and it only takes a moment for him to realize that it’s Pietro approaching.
Erik doesn’t waste a moment in using his powers to throw open the doors and then wraps his arms around his son.
“Dad?” Pietro asks, sounding confused, “What are you doing here?”
“Charles let me know what happened. I came straight here. I needed to know if you were okay,” Erik replies, keeping his arms fully in place, maybe longer than is strictly necessary, but who’s to blame him for that. “Are you okay? Feeling alright?”
Pietro nods, “Yeah, I’m alright,” He replies, “Nothing to worry about. You really didn’t have to come all this way for nothing, man.”
“Pietro, you’re my Sohn, of course, I’m going to come when I hear you’re hurt. Now, none of that, tell me, are you really okay? Charles did tell me what happened.”
Pietro nods, “Yeah, I mean, maybe a little sore but,” He shrugs, “You know, I’ve had worse. Energy beams aren’t great to be hit with, but I think landing on my back was the most painful,” He pauses a moment and pulls away from the hug to look at Erik. “Really, pops, I’m okay.”
Erik nods, sighing softly, “Okay, we’re going to talk to Beast and Cyclops about this later though,” he insists, making both Charles and Pietro groan. No one can say he doesn’t care about his junge.