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]

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.

[guideshapelead]

Hank has seen the plane approach, and runs out to meet them half way back to the school.

"Everyone's accounted for," he says, without preamble. "It was... little Scott."

[diecastking]

Erik stops, unable to process full what Hank is saying.

"Where is he?"

[guideshapelead]

"With Raven. He's alright." Hank realises, too late, that his words may have been less than reassuring.

"His... his mutation manifested. Suddenly. Violently."

[diecastking]

"Fire," Erik says, remembering all too well the chaos Alex had left in his wake. "Like his brother."

[guideshapelead]

"Laser power," Hank corrects. "Like his brother, yes. Only... well, it's best you see. We'll need your help, I think, Professor."

"Of course," Charles looks nothing but shell-shocked. "Please, take me to him."

[diecastking]

Erik follows close behind him, taking in the ruin of the school and wondering what poor Scott must be suffering. He knew how it felt to be the cause of such chaos.

[guideshapelead]

Hank takes them past the main bulk of the school body, milling around what had once been the main entrance to the school. Charles wants desperately to stop and reassure them all that this can be fixed, that a building is far more easily fixed than a person, but his son has need of him and that must be his first priority.

They are led to the very end of the gardens, where Raven sits with their little boy, eyes screwed tightly shut as he clings to the woman.

"His eyes," Hank explains as they draw near. "If he opens them..." he gestures back at the school.