Forgive Us Our Transgressions 16/16
“I can’t believe we’re actually taking him with us,” Alex groaned, slumped over in his seat in the Blackbird.
“Alex, he’s part of the team.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe that, either.”
Glancing over at the blond, Erik merely gave him his best vicious grin, all teeth, little humour.
He didn’t mind the ribbing, really. Alex hadn’t hit him with a plasma beam the second he walked in the door (either time), and for that Erik was grateful.
It would just take some time for the kid to warm back up to him.
“I can’t believe we brought the kid,” Sean added with a shake of his head, eyes on Pryo.
“He’s just as old as you were on our first mission,” Erik reminded him.
“Yeah, and look how that turned out!” Sean’s eyes widened dramatically.
Erik’s gaze slid over to Charles, wheelchair strapped securely into the back of the jet. “Fair point,” he allowed.
He always had insisted it was crazy, going to war with a bunch of teenagers at their backs. Now, though, he was happy to have Pyro at his side, the kid’s eyes big and giddy as they flew at record speeds.
The boy spent more of his time hanging around the children-Bobby specifically, torching anything the boy saw fit to freeze-than the adults in the house, but Erik found his presence comforting.
Every time he smiled, every time he laughed and showed off and generally forgot what a terrible upbringing he had had, he reminded Erik of everything he left behind. Everything he was determined not to be. St. John could have gone the same way as Erik, caught up in a never-ending cycle of grief and violence, but instead he was here, laughing joyously as the jet sped through the air.
They were on their way to save another mutant from the hands of the humans. Erik was doing what he believed in, and he was doing it with Charles at his side.
For a long time, he hadn’t thought it would be possible, to have the man he loved and be the man he wanted to be.
And yet, here he was.
“There it is.” Hank lowered the jet, swooping down out of the clouds as Erik squinted to make out the building they were closing in on.
It was a government facility this time, and that set his teeth on edge. That more than ever made Erik want to hold on to the hope that Pyro and the other kids fuelled inside of him.
People did bad things, Charles told him over and over again. Species did not.
Still, he thought with a vicious smile, he looked forward to kicking some ass today.
The jet landed almost silently, another amazing innovation from one Dr. Hank McCoy. Erik cracked his knuckles as they touched ground, reaching out for all the metal within his range.
“Must you look so homicidal?” Alex asked with a sigh.
Erik grinned. “Absolutely,” he agreed, flashing his teeth.
“Erik,” Charles chided as Erik deftly undid the metal holding Charles stationary in the jet. Seamless links, unbreakable except by Erik.
Anything to keep Charles safe.
“Hmm?”
Charles smiled, blue eyes twinkling. “Don’t play innocent. You’re purposefully goading him.”
Erik widened his eyes, even knowing they would never be as guileless and convincing as Charles’. “Who, me?”
“Entirely unbelievable,” Charles told him matter-of-factly, wheeling his way down the gangplank.
“Luckily it isn’t often in my best interest to appear innocent,” Erik said with a shrug, steadying the chair so there were no bumps as Charles rolled out onto the grass.
“Alright, everyone.” Charles could shift seamlessly from irritated boyfriend to team captain, from innocent joking to Important Business. It was really quite impressive. “There’s only one inside, but he’s…different.” Charles frowned, eyes distant. “Special. I’d really like to talk to him.”
“One mutant,” Erik joined in. “An entire base of trained soldiers. Are you all ready?”
The boys straightened at his tone, ready and willing to play the part of soldiers for the cause.
His heart swelled with pride.
These were his boys, each and every one. Alex might not acknowledge it, Hank might not need his guidance, but all four were his, found by him, trained by him, fostered under his and Charles’ care.
He never thought he’d say it, but he was proud of them.
The base was guarded, but it was no harder than Russia had been to get them in.
Easier, actually, with Sean causing men to crumple to the ground, hands over their ears. With Hank’s snarl making them drop their guns in surprise.
With Charles, as ever, soothing the way.
They burst through the doors, metal curling in on itself left in their wake.
“Where?”
“To the left,” Charles barked.
They moved as a unit, Erik taking point, Alex and Hank flanking him, at the ready.
Sean and Pyro covered Charles, knowing Erik would kill them slowly if anything happened to the man.
“There,” Charles said, sending two guards slumping to the ground.
The door was reinforced steel, and Erik grinned as he ripped it from its hinges.
A small fire burst out as the guards inside charged forward, and Erik had to smile as he saw that no one was actually harmed.
Control had been as hard for Pyro as it once had been for Erik, or Alex or Sean.
Charles had guided the boy to that sweet spot of concentration, and the wall of fire that leapt up to protect them only reinforced Erik’s conviction that Charles was born to teach.
“Who the fuck are you?” a voice snarled, even as the guards sat down, dropping their guns as their faces went blank.
“Smooth moves, Professor,” Pyro laughed as the flames died out.
“Hello,” Charles rolled forward once the coast was clear.
“Cover the door,” Erik hissed, gesturing emphatically to Alex and Sean. He knew how long Charles’ recruitment speeches could last.
“I’m Charles Xavier, and we’re here to rescue you.”
A loud snort issued from the back of the room. “A cripple and some kids?”
Erik narrowed his eyes. “I think you’ll find we’re a bit more than that,” he said, stepping forward. Metal rang out in every inch of the prisoner’s body, and he grabbed hold, jerking the man’s arms to his sides. “Don’t you agree?”
The man snarled, white teeth flashing. He struggled briefly, his huge frame writhing under Erik’s hold, and then he subsided. “Neat trick.”
“You too,” Erik said ruefully. He could feel metal built in to the man’s skeleton, lining his bones, reinforcing his body. “The government do this to you?”
“I guess,” he would have shrugged, if Erik hadn’t held him still. “I don’t remember jack shit, but they’re trying to use me now.”
Erik grit his teeth, the injustice of it all washing over him. This man, kept in a cage, experimented on-tortured, probably-it wasn’t right, and he wanted to do something about it.
Erik, Charles’ voice tickled at his mind. We are doing something about it.
More, Erik thought viciously, the image of the sleeping soldiers overwhelming his mind.
We’re not killing them.
They fused adamantium to his bones, Charles.
I can see that.
So?
Charles glanced away from the prisoner, meeting Erik’s eyes. There was no judgment in their blue depths, and Erik felt some of the tension drain out of his body. So, they are people. They did not capture him. They did not experiment on him. They only keep him here. They will be brought to justice for that crime.
Erik sighed. If it were up to him, he’d kill every human in the room.
But he didn’t, and that was the important part.
He and Charles would never quite agree, but Erik had learned not to act so rashly, and Charles had agreed to detainment for everyone involved in mutant torture.
His fancy Oxford degree, not to mention Hank’s multiple doctorates, held a lot of sway in certain circles, and suddenly there were lobbyists for mutant rights, campaigns to save the mutants, and donors for their mutant school.
Erik sometimes chafed under it all, wanting nothing more than to hurt and destroy those who sought to hurt him.
But more than even Charles, he had only to look at Pyro’s hopeful face, or Bobby’s, or Lorna’s, gazing at him with adoration, looking up to him, to remember why destruction wasn’t always the best course of action.
Peace was more than an option, it was a goal, and one Erik was willing to pursue with all his might.
“Let’s get him out of here,” he said, ripping the bars off the man’s cage.
Thank you, my friend, Charles whispered, his mind caressing Erik’s with gratitude, contentment, and love.
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A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading the whole way through! If you have a moment to tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it!