Rest and relaxation

[guideshapelead]

Charles had kept Erik to his word, when he had promised a trip away once Alex had left them for his life as a soldier. It's what they both needed, to have some time away from the house and the responsibilities of running a school. It had been difficult, the morning they set off, leaving Scott behind, but they were not going to be gone long. Their little boy (though, really, not that little any more) had been acting out a lot recently, having lost his brother and started school, and maybe a bit of distance would be good for him as well.

Oxford was just as Charles remembered, though he had never appreciated in his past life just how frustrating the narrow, cobbled streets could be for a man bound to a wheelchair. After a frustrating morning trying to show Erik the sights of his adolescence in the cold and the drizzle, he finds himself wanting nothing more than an afternoon somewhere warm, dry and easily accessible.

"Tea at the hotel?" he suggests, trying not to be too grumpy in front of his lover. They are, after all, meant to be having fun.

Comments

[diecastking]

"He will come," Erik says, determined that it will be the truth. "One of them will come for us. I will make sure of it."

[guideshapelead]

Charles is pale with anxiety as they make their quick way back to their hotel, and the telephone there. To feel such fear, over such a distance... something catastophic has had to have happened. He strains to try and get a sense of what that might be, but his mind is silence once again.

[diecastking]

Erik connects the call to Westchester, impatiently waiting as the phone rings endlessly without being answered.

Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong.

"I will book us on the next flight to New York," he says and bashes the receiver down in its cradle.

[guideshapelead]

"Hank may already be on his way," Charles says, wishful thinking on his part.

"If he can be..."

[diecastking]

"We will not take that chance. We will leave now."

Erik is military efficiency, already considering the practicalities of stealing a plane.

[guideshapelead]

Charles nods, silent in his fear. Erik is better in these sorts of situations, he always has been, and Charles lets his lover take control of the situation.

Anything to get home as quickly as possible.

[diecastking]

Erik does not waste any time, packing their suitcase and settling the bill in a matter of minutes. He enquires of their driver where the nearest airfield is, curtly expressing an interest in British planes, before asking to be dropped off just outside the perimeter.

"Cover me," he tells Charles, and parts the fence.

There is a private plane that seems equipped to cross the Atlantic, and Erik mentally summons Charles to join him as he keeps a watchful eye on the distracted guards.

[guideshapelead]

Charles focuses on the various people swanning about the airfield, keeping them from noticing Erik as he approaches and examines the plane. When summoned, he makes his way as quickly as he can across the field to join his lover.

//Will this do?// he asks, keeping a wary eye on the guards as he scans for anybody inside the plane - all clear.

[diecastking]

//Can you shield the plane for take-off?//

Erik knows he is asking much of Charles, especially in his present state, but he would rather not engage in a fight while trying to fly a plane.

[guideshapelead]

//I'll do my best//

It is all Charles can offer, but he means it in the most sincere sense.

[diecastking]

Erik nods once, and then heads for the plane.

He lifts Charles' chair behind him, opening the hatch and moving them both inside. Setting Charles down in the doorway, so he has a clear eye on their targets, he makes his way to the cockpit and familiarises himself with the controls.

//We have enough fuel to head north.//

[guideshapelead]

Charles has not relied on his fingers at his temple for a long time, but he uses the token move now, taking the extra strength from the physical reminder of his powers. He makes himself forgetting everything beyond the airport staff, forcing them all to ignore the theft of a plane from right in front of their noses.

[diecastking]

Erik does not communicate with Charles further, performing the pre-flight checks and readying the plane for take-off.

As soon as he's sure they're ready, he starts the engine.

//I need to close the door, Charles.//

[guideshapelead]

Charles does not know if he can keep up the illusion when he cannot see his target, and he is already feeling tired, but he nods anyway.

//Go ahead//

There is no choice, he will find a way to do this.

[diecastking]

Erik closes the door, takes hold of Charles' chair to keep his steady, and starts the plane.

The runway is short but the plane doesn't need much space. He taxis it round and prepares to take off.

[guideshapelead]

Closing his eyes, Charles tries to continue to see the tarmac through the eyes of one of the workers, though the combination of controlling an entire staff and seeing through the eyes of another quickly has his temples pounding.

"Erik, quickly," Charles begs, no telepathic power left to speak straight to Erik's mind. "I can't hold them much longer."

[diecastking]

Erik speeds the plane along the runway and sends them up into the air.

"It's done," he says, risking a glance back over his shoulder. "Liebe?"

[guideshapelead]

Charles drops his fingers from his temples with a sighing, falling limp with exhaustion into his chair.

"'m alright," he grunts, exhausted but conscious.

[diecastking]

Erik clenches his jaw. He wants to be home now. He wants to be fighting, not flying.

"Rest now," he says. "You will need all your strength."

For the unknown threat in their house, their school.

[guideshapelead]

Charles tries to do as Erik tells him, getting as comfortable as he can where he is, but he's barely closed his eyes when he feels somebody else trying to push at his mind.

Hank.

//We're on our way// he sends to the young man, too tired for any more conversation.

[diecastking]

The plane is easy to fly with all metal at his command, and stealing fuel is easy under the cover of darkness.

Erik does not need to sleep, focused on home. On returning Charles to his rightful place, at the head of their family.

Ready to kill or be killed to protect them.

[guideshapelead]

They fly directly to the mansion... or what had once been their mansion. As they get close, both Charles and Erik can see the rising smoke, and as they get nearer still they are able to make out the devastation.

Charles can feel the trauma, too, so many small minds crying out in fear.

[diecastking]

Erik tries to focus on their landing and not the smouldering of the school. He touches down unevenly on one of the deserted paddocks in the grounds, hurrying through the plane's shutdown routine so that they can get back to where they belong.

To their children.

[guideshapelead]

"Help me, Erik," Charles asks as they land, wanting to get to the school faster than he can move himself.

"I don't... I don't understand how this could have happened."

[diecastking]

Erik says nothing, throwing open the plane door and gripping Charles' chair in his power. He strides across the grounds, barely short of a run, the chair floating behind him like a child's stray balloon.