Erik sat across from the blonde beauty, drinking his coffee. The amount of people who walked by and smiled at the couple had him rolling his eyes. If he had sat at the same cafe with Charles, they would either ignore them or a few would give them a side glance … wondering.
The cafe was one of their favorite meeting places, small and away from normal New York traffic, but not so small that they were ‘regulars’ and noticeable. As far as anyone was concerned they were just a cute couple have lunch, of course it helped that Emma made sure those around them really didn’t pay attention. They saw a man and woman, but wouldn’t be able to ID them or tell anyone what they looked like.
He could tell Emma was pissed, by the the tapping of the perfectly manicured nail on the coffee cup. “She’s out of control.” Emma set her cup down, with more force than needed. “I know Azazel is helping her, which I get, but it’s annoying.”
“Well it’s worse than you think.” He took a sip of his coffee and set it down a bit more gently. “She’s going after Trask.”
“What do you think she’s been doing for the past two years, sugar?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, her one tell that she was trying to get more information than Erik was willing to give.
“You had a difficult time before I spent ten years with Charles, you think you’re getting in now?” He smirked as he leaned back in his chair. “We have information that she will be in Paris, aiming to actually kill him, and if she succeeds it’s the death of all of us.”
“You think Trask will retaliate?” She hesitated, Erik was known for his over exaggerations.
“Lets just say if we don’t stop her, I’ll get to crow about how right I was about humans, the problem is I’ll likely be dead.”
Emma leaned forward, now concerned. He was right, she couldn’t read his mind, but she had known him now for ten years, and she could tell something was upsetting him. “Erik, what is going on? I’ve known you a long time now, honey. I know your rants, speeches, and if only I hadn’t fallen for a pacifist whines. This is different. You actually look and feel worried, but not quite.”
He stood, buttoned his suit coat, grabbed his fedora and put it on, before holding out his hand. “Walk with me.”
With a nod, she grabbed her bag, taking his arm after he tossed some money onto the table. They strolled through the nearby park looking like the perfect normal happy couple. “I want to ask something of you.”
“Anything, within my reason.”
He chuckled, the two had built an interesting relationship over the past decade. He admired Emma, she handled the Brotherhood with a dignity and strength. Basically, she had every member by the balls and they knew it.
“If something happens to me, make sure Charles is taken care of.”
She yanked on his arm making him turn towards her. “Erik what are you planning?”
“I’m planning on stopping Mystique…”
“By sacrificing yourself?”
“Fuck no.” He gave her a filthy glare. “I’ll kill her before I let her crusade ruin Charles… ” he sighed, “there are days I wonder how this became my life.”
“Sex, sugar. Plenty of it.”
He gave her a rare smile, the one only family saw. “All I’m doing is making sure my partner is taken care of. I know you all have plans to deal with me, if something happens to him. I’m pretty sure it ranges from putting me out of my misery to letting me conquer the earth and let the humans know how bad of an idea it was to hurt him.”
“Depends on the day.”
He snorted, at the comment. “I don’t think Charles is going to handle losing me well.” He needed to talk to Logan without Charles, to find out more of what the future held.
“You act as if it’s inevitable.” Her tone indicated she didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“Emma, I’ve had a rough life. And as we saw a couple years ago, that gunshot will be the death of me. Maybe if we had a houseful of kids for him to teach, he would be fine.” Erik paused, taking a seat on the bench. “I’m worried.”
She sat down next to him, taking his rough hand in her delicate ones. “You two will have a long life together, and if I have to kill Mystique myself to make sure of it I will.”
The two sat back, Emma taking his arm and leaning close to him. “I have some good and bad news. The good news Alex is recovering, as is the Mutants that came with him. There are a few who are interested in the Brotherhood. Considering they are trained soldiers, this could be good. Alex is going to rest a bit before I send him home.”
“And the bad?”
“It’s news that will likely send Mystique over the edge, to finally killing Trask.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “And if you say things will get worse if she does, then you need to be prepared.”
There was only one reason Mystique would go off that bad. “Who did we lose?”
“Janus and Angel.” She sat back up, trying to not show the tears in her eyes. They were part of the original team. The ones who were there for that moment … the moment that changed everything. They told her many times, that if the beach had gone down differently, who knew what would’ve happened … and not necessarily for good. Janus admitted a few years after the Brotherhood been formed, that Mutant Kind was better off that Erik was with Charles, than the two seperated. And now to lose them … it was a blow personally and to the brotherhood. “We got confirmation a few days ago.”
“Fuck.” He stood, paced a few steps, then turned back to Emma, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Erik.” She ran a hand over her cheeks, then stood and gave him a determined look. “We have the same plans for Charles as we do you. Either let him take over the world, or put him out of his misery. Because honey, this world can’t survive without the two of you in it.”
“Be careful.”
“I always am, Sugar. So how are you getting to France?”
Erik gave her a wink, with a saucy grin. “Advantage of having a rich boyfriend. We’re going by private jet.”
Well after psyching me out with the promise of smut, this piece is really good. Great dialogue and some really good lines here. Nice work!