Title: Another New Beginning
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Charles/Erik, mild Sean/Emma, with hints of others
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Charles' home is having to be rebuilt. Again.
Word Count: 2,893
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 454: Clean
Warnings: Definitely not betaed, and given the circumstances going on around me when I wrote this, there may well be a NUMBER of mistakes in this one. Just a head's up on that, but hey, I made the deadline after all! :)
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.








He was tired, only that word did not seem to accurately describe the level of fatigue currently threatening to overtake him. He had faced worse, and this certainly was not the first time he had faced these particular circumstances. It seemed almost to have become a tradition, having to rebuild the school after one enemy or another — or even multiple – attacked them in what was supposed to be their safe haven, in what was their home.

In what is, he insisted on thinking, his brows furrowing firmly on his forehead as he scanned the grounds. It was, of course, their mutant genes that made humankind continously come against them, but it was also their powers, their blessings that made them so different, that enabled them to come together so strongly, so quickly, and so swiftly rebuild time and again. Even his brother, Cain, whom he had thought would never stand willingly and loyally beside him again had helped to rebuild the school this time; he and Piotr had been working on the actual building, with a team of others, all day. They had even had some of their non-mutant allies stop in, people who had willingly slaved away with them today to rebuild despite the fact that many of their own followers would surely turn against them without a second thought if they knew how often they helped the people they chose to hate because of their differences.

Charles made a mental note to write thank you notes to Steve and the others. He could, of course, simply call or Email them, but there was something about a handwritten note that still held an air of personalness that no modern-day communication could grant, he mused as he continued to scan the grounds, not just with his eyes but with his mind. His own powers enabled him to look far beyond what his eyes could see, to truly check on his students, his family. Jean, Scott, and Ororo had felt the need to suggest today that perhaps they rebuild somewhere else this time. Whereas that notion might prove prudent, it would also admit defeat. It would be one thing, Charles thought, if it was only their defeat they would be admitting, but to see the school that so many mutants and others now knew was the no-longer secret headquarters of the X-Men would admit a defeat that the whole world would witness… and would be marred by.

Of course, there were still thousnads of humans who would be triumphant if they were to let the school remain in shambles and move elsewhere, to a no longer open base. But there were even humans who would be hurt if they did so. Allowing such a defeat would tell the world that prejudice – hatred had won. Charles would not allow for that.

But his children were so weary. He himself was exhausted beyond anything he had felt in so very long, including many of the multiple deaths he had suffered through the decades running this old establishment. The world was so filled with hatred still, despite all the many years fighting those very prejudicisms. Many of the children still felt the pains of those prejudices every day they ventured beyond the school grounds. Several had become veritable hermits, and society was making it easier, every since the last plague, than perhaps ever before to become hermits. People could simply have almost anything delivered to them rather than going out to buy it themselves.

Both notions were tempting, Charles thought, emitting a deep sigh. The children had settled into their own little pockets for likely the rest of the evening, though Jean, Rogue, and Remy had gathered in the kitchen to cook for everyone. Perhaps food would bring them together again tonight – good meals did tend to have that ablility – but there were also many who would go to bed hungry rather than even face their own kind tonight, their own family. Charles made an additional mental note to take record of who actually attended tonight’s dinner and to select a few students – likely Ororo, Kurt, and Kitty - to make personal deliveries to those who were missing. Kitty and Kurt, of course, would be the easiest to have deliver to those who did not wish to be bothered, and when they turned and discovered freshly cooked meals appearing without further communication in their own rooms, it would warm each of their hearts.

Charles’ own heart felt considerably chilled this evening, and even here, in his home of many decades and surrounded by his children, he felt himself feeling quite alone. His students were no longer children, although they would always be so to him. Ororo, Scott, Jean, and Kurt had all grown into very capable adults, each having led teams of their own and saved the whole world, sometimes even the whole universe, all by themselves. Even Logan was now often leading younger children, and had thanked him a couple of times all those years ago for convincing him to stay. Katheryne was a grown woman now, too, and would soon be leading a new team with Emma Frost, of all people.

Now there was a woman who had changed so greatly over the years, Charles reflected, picking up on the White Queen’s emotions. She had changed so much, and still hurt so greatly every day. For all their talk and beliefs, for all their work against humans’ prejudices, there were still so many of his own students who held Emma’s past against her. They had forgiven Logan, forgiven Rogue, forgiven so many others, even Charles’ own brother – but many of them still held her past misdeeds against Emma. Charles knew the woman would readily lay down her life for any one of them, especially the children, but though she never allowed it to show, the others’ judgements of her still hurt her greatly every day.

Although, he reflected, no more so than Sean. He needed to speak to the Irishman one of these days, but he would have to choose his words with great care. Cassidy acted as though he did not recall the bond he and Emma had formed during their days training Generation X, but Charles knew better. Sean was a man fueled by his own guilit, but neither of them could have saved Moira – and look at the woman had become now.

Or what, Charles thought with a gulp, she had always been? There were still so many questions, and even after all this time, still so few answers. Rebuilding the school was the right thing to do. He registered surprise when he realized the Richards family was still cleaning a part of the yard, and then smiled with fondness, the lines around his aged, blue eyes crinkling, as he picked up on the youngest’ thoughts. Franklin was thrilled to be with Artie and Leech again, and the particular spot where the boys and Franklin’s family were working pick up the debris reminded him of the Danger Grotto. Charles thought back with great fondness on how Emma had worked with those three kids and the older ones of the team, and knew yet again he could have chosen no better woman for the job.

Katheryne had grown so much too; he looked forward to seeing what the two of them built together. So much had stayed the same despite all their best efforts, he reminscied, but so much had changed too. His smile grew, the last bits of cold edging from his heart as he felt a very familiar hand on his shoulder. So much had changed indeed, he thought, reaching up and covering that tender hand with his own. Erik and a couple of the other flyers had been working on the roofs of the various buildings, once the foundations had been reformed by Piotr’s team. A couple had offered to help with the trees, but that, of course, had been Ororo’s main mission, with a team very carefully hand–picked by the Weather Goddess herself.

Now there was another woman, Charles thought fondly, who had changed so greatly, all for the better, since the day he had first met her. He remembered the feeling of her tiny hand in his pocket when she tried to take his wallet, and the fear he’d felt radiating off of her. For many years, all she had experienced that had led her to that point of being almost like a cornered, wild animal when he had called her out for her attempted robbery had hurt his heart greatly. But the woman she had become had literally ruled nations and even an entire planet, and always with grace and love. She truly was a Queen, the closest to a Goddess he would ever know.

He tilted his head back, gazing up into Erik’s bright, blue eyes as clouds gathered in the evening sky. It still felt like such a rare treat to have his best friend stand beside him in the open. It was an even more rare treat to see his most cherished companion dressed in only blue jeans, that were rather fitting for his form. Charles knew he had kept a shirt on around the others, but now he was bare chested, bringing a youthfulness springing into Charles’ being that he had not felt in… He tried to remember when he had last felt so aroused, but failed. His life had never been one to give him time for relaxation, or freedom for that matter.

But he was free, he thought. They were free here, on these grounds, around his people, his studnets who had once so hated the Master of Magnetism that they had been ridiculously quick to blame Erik for any surprise attack they, or humankind, had suffered. He had given up the idea of ever being able to have both his students and his lover together at the same time long ago, back when the team had still been young and in only its second generation, yet here they stood, side by side.

Raindrops began to gently fall over the men’s faces. Erik broke his gaze from Charles’ to look up at the darkening skies. Evening was drawing close on their second day of rebuilding the school this time, but he was actually welcome here. The kids were at last becoming as much his alliances as they were his lovers’ children, something he had never thought would happen. He had never thought he would have children again, especially not of his own, but even Pietro had stopped in to lending a helping hand today.

He regretted not having offered his son a chance to stay for the evening, which reminded him… He cleared his throat and spoke gently, “Ororo is attempting to cool everyone before dinner. It won’t be long now, Jean said maybe another hour.” Jean had been the first to accept him outside of Charles, much to her husband’s chagrin, and she had done so for the very man whom he now stood beside, the man for whom any of the three of them, and many others on these grounds, would gladly give their own lives. “I, hum,” he licked his suddenly-drying lips, “I offered Reed for his family to stay for dinner. Benjamin said something about a poker game later.”

Charles’ dark eyebrows arched upwards in surprise. “You spoke to Reed?”

“Yes. Franklin remembers a lecture I taught at the Massachusetts Academy, apparently.”

“I don’t believe that was you yourself – “ Charles began, to which Erik quickly agreed.

“Oh, no, not during his lifetime at least. Have you looked in on the school recently?”

“No, but I believe Emma and Katheryne have.”

“Those two make quite a team,” Erik said with a chuckle that bordered on dark suggestions. “I’d certainly not want to be a man to cross their paths.”

“Definitely not,” Charles agreed, and caught himself by surprise as a chuckle escaped him. “But they will do great by the next generation.”

“Absolutely agreed.” Charles watched, in delight, as Erik’s blue eyes sparkled at the thought. “But what of you, Charles? Are you ever going to retire?”

“Certainly,” Charles quipped back with ease, “the day after you do, my dearest friend.”

“You know the second President of this nation always penned letters to his wife with that closing.”

“I am aware.” Both old men also knew that there was as much a reason that Charles coined the phrase for Erik, and he also sometimes returned it, as John Adams had for his own beloved Abigail.

“They had no idea what this nation was going to become.”

“None,” Charles agreed, his expression souring. He looked around them again, reflecting once more. “Just as we had no idea what this was going to become all those years ago.”

Erik chuckled openly. “I certainly never thought you’d get me to agree to this lifestyle.”

“It is more than a lifestyle.”

“True. It is our future,” Erik squeezed Charles’ hand, “and I am glad and proud to stand here beside you know. You made the right decision, - but then, as much as I am loathe to admit it, you always do.”

“Not always, my dearest friend.” Charles’ voice had grown quiet and still, barely above a whisper as he admitted, “Certainly not always.”

“You do by me, Charles.”

“Then that is a high compliment that I shall accept with great gladness in my heart, Erik.” They stood for a moment, in companionable silence, the kind of easy quietitude that only friends with as deep bond as theirs and as been years exploring those bonds together could know. They gazed at each other from time to time, and otherwise simply watched the sun setting on their newly recovered grounds. It was not until Jean’s voice spoke into everyone’s minds, inviting them to the dining room for a shared meal on the X-Men’s behalf, that Charles finally spoke again, “So, that poker game with Benjamin – “

Erik made a displeased face, and Charles could almost swear he heard him utter a soft grunt. “Poker is hardly my idea of a good game, Charles. You know this.”

Charles looked up at him with a fond smile and a twinkle in his blue eyes. He may be one of the oldest people present – likely the oldest other than Logan and Erik -, but he was suddenly beginning to feel young again in the newly dawning night. “Perhaps I can invite you to my chambers then, after we have fed with the others, for a game of chess?”

“Yes, indeed,” Erik said, smiling and squeezing Charles’ hand again. They had been moving in unison together toward the school, their hands never parted or having left Charles’ shoulder. It was again something that only two who had shared so much for so long could maneuever with such graceful ease. And whatever else that may lead to, he thought into Charles’ mind.

Charles’ laughed, drawing a few looks from the students who were coming closer as they all made their ways togeether toward the dining room. He caught Emma’s sharp look, then realized she was not casting her gaze at the two of them but rather at the younger students, a silent warning for no one to dare speak against the man who had given her another chance at life and his chosen companion. He smiled. He really did owe her a debt of gratitude, he realized, for all the changes she had wrought and all she had done for the students. He would have to speak to Sean soon, but not tonight. Tonight, after they had retired from the kids, would be all for him and Erik.

Indeed, he thought back, suddenly beaming from ear to ear. Whatever else tonight might bring. Whatever the future itself might bring, he thought with gladness, certainty, relief, and yes, even a healthy dose of new optimism, they would face it together, all of them. Erik squeezed his hand again, and did not move it even when Charles glided into the dining room.

He took his place at the front of the table, the one spot where there was no chair. Erik took his beside him, across from Scott, who no longer looked at him with hatred but instead offered him a slice of ham. Jean sat to her husband’s right, and across from her, next to Erik, sat Emma. None of the other places were marked, but Charles noticed that Ororo and Logan sat next to Jean, and Kitty, with Lockheed on her shoulder, and Illyana by her side chose the seats next to Emma.

He gazed at his family, at his friends, at his children, - and he realized they were starting again in so many ways. But in so many ways, this was going to be a bright future together. He lifted his glass. “Welcome, my family, my friends,” he inclined his head toward the Richards family and saw that many of the Avengers had stopped in again as well, “to another new beginning.” This one was going to be the best yet. The enemies could not destroy them. Hate would never best love in the end, and wherever Charles looked around the table, he saw nothing but love. And his old heart was warmed.


The End