Stand In Front Of You
Title: Stand In Front Of You
Author: safaiagem / bloody-hellfire
Word Count: 2,465
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Alex/Raven, background Charles/Erik, ensemble cast
Warnings none
Summary: Raven worries and can only do so much when her brother vanishes.
Notes: Takes place during I'll Take The Force of the Blow so you should read that first. I finished this like two months ago and completely forgot about it. For some reason this pairing just wouldn't get out of my head. Title, like the story before it, is taken from 'Protection' by Massive Attack. laria_gwyn is my beta and I <3 her. Please don't sue me I'm just playing in the sandbox.
Stand In Front Of You
On the one hand Raven did not worry about her brother.. He was a telepath and probably one of the most powerful ones in the world. His floppy hair and big blue eyes just made people underestimate him and that helped keep him safe. As far as Raven knew Charles had never found a limit to his powers and, in a few years, Raven could see him becoming a terrifying force. Charles could protect himself, she knew that, but Raven also knew that he was prone not to. He was dense, naïve and a little too enthusiastic for his own good and it got him in trouble. Charles seemed to have no sense of self preservation at times and it seemed to get even worse if Erik Lehnsherr was involved. It had been years since Raven had worried about Charles pushing himself too far but as soon as Erik stepped into the picture she worried again. He did not seem to realize it but Erik enabled Charles to push himself harder despite claiming to do the contrary.
So when she didn’t hear from either Erik or Charles on the first day, she wasn’t worried. One of them usually called every other day. The cost to make so many long distance calls was probably more than Charles was willing to admit but he also worried. He was hesitant to leave them at all because of what had happened the last time, when Shaw had killed Armando and Angel left, but he could not stay with them forever. She had promised to be careful and that had seemed to ease some his worries. When she did not hear from either Charles or Erik on the second day Raven spent the majority of the day staying close to the phone in case it rang.
“The Professor can hear someone thinking an impure thought fifty miles away. I don't know why you worry so much,” Alex said when he caught her near the phone the third time that day.
“It's not that,” Raven replied. “Charles just has a tendency to push himself too far, and I'm not sure how much help Erik would be if that happened.”
“You're kidding, right?” Alex said laughing. “If there is anyone that you shouldn't worry about hurting your brother it would be Erik.”
“I'm not so sure,” Raven muttered. Alex tilted his head to the side slightly and watched her carefully. She could feel his blue eyes staring her down, trying to get a read on her, but Raven could change her appearance with a thought; she knew she could hide her tells.
“It's my night to make dinner. Why don't you give me a hand? I'm not very good plus it'll get your mind off of waiting for them to call,” Alex suggested. It was exactly what she needed to do actually, but she was also sure that she did not give that away.
“You just want my help.”
Alex grinned and held out a hand gesturing toward the kitchen with a nod. Raven stared at the hand for a moment before she let him take her to the kitchen to 'help' with dinner.
+++
Hank looked a little uneasy when he came up for dinner. Raven could only guess that he was still a little uncomfortable in his body’s new form. She liked the change, thought it suited him in an odd way, but it was going to take some time until he was used to it. Sean joined them not long after, rolling his shoulders. Angel was still downstairs and Raven made a mental note to take some food down to her later. She was not quite ready to let the other girl move freely throughout the house. She had betrayed them and that still stung, but she also knew better than to damn someone else for a mistake.
“I'm thinking of going flying tomorrow,” Sean said as he sat down.
“Is your arm up for that?” Raven asked. She set the macaroni and cheese on the table.
“Only one way to find out,” Sean replied shrugging.
“Can I push you out the window this time?” Alex put the last of the milk out on the table as Sean glared. “Something bothering you, Hank?”
“I don't know what it is,” Hank replied softly. “Something doesn't feel right.” Raven felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She trusted Hank's instincts and if he said something was not right she believed him. “I think we should go downstairs.”
“Right now? We're about to eat,” Sean said halfway through a mouthful of hotdog.
“I said I think we should go downstairs,” Hank said firmly.
“All right, all right, let's go,” Raven said. Alex nodded and they gathered the bowls of food to bring with them. Sean looked annoyed but Hank growled at him when he mentioned it. Raven was halfway down to the lower levels of the house when her keen hearing picked up something that was not supposed to be there. She was about to turn around to investigate when Hank appeared, closing the door behind him. She glanced at him and he nodded stiffly; someone was in the house. Raven reached the bottom of the stairs and and they heard footsteps above them.
“Someone is in the house,” Sean said, food forgotten.
“The Professor told us to be safe,” Hank said.
“We need to find out who is coming after us, too,” Raven said. “Let me go look.”
“That doesn't sound like being safe to me,” Alex said frowning deeply.
“I'll just copy someone if I need to.” Raven ignored the way Alex and Hank glanced at her sideways. “Charles hasn't called or projected to me in a few days, and now someone breaks into the house? I have to go see if I can find anything out.”
“Raven, wait--” Hank began but this was her brother and she was not going to take any risks. If something was wrong she needed to know. Raven eased the door open and looked outside. She was one room over and she could see into the hallway. No one was in room she was in so she could see them but they could not see her. There were soldiers from the American military walking around her house. White hot rage flowed through her entire body as they began to look through everything, as they violated their home.
“What have you found?” a familiar voice called out. Raven watched as Director McCone from the CIA walked into the room.
“No one is here, sir,” a soldier said. McCone looked thoughtful as he looked around the house.
“Miss Darkholm, I know you're here somewhere,” he called out. “I want you to know something as you hide like the little rats that you are; your brother misses you dearly. All you need to do is come out here with the rest of your little crowd and you'll ease a lot of his pain.”
Raven felt her stomach drop; they had Charles. The CIA had Charles and they were hurting him. She would do anything for Charles; he had altered the mind of his mother so she could live with him, and she could not just sit there while they hurt him. She had to do something. But if she revealed just herself, perhaps she could keep the others safe.
Someone moved behind her and put a hand over her mouth, Raven was so startled she nearly broke their arm. She turned and saw Alex, his body nearly humming with energy and rage, and for a moment she thought he was going to rush the soldiers with her. Instead he placed a finger to his lips and shook his head slowly. He began to walk backwards slowly as if to move her away from the door, but Raven could not just sit here. Charles was hurt, Charles was in the hands of people that hated what he was, and she had to do something. Alex put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed; she could break his arm if she needed to but that seemed mean. As soon as it was sealed she pushed Alex away from her, furious.
“What do you think you're doing, Summers?” Raven snapped. “They have Charles, they probably have Erik, and you want me to walk away?”
“Yes, because that's what your brother told you to do. He wanted you safe and you're going to run out there and let them take you?” Alex said probably trying to sound reasonable but instead it made Raven want to punch him.
“They said they were hurting him,” she said softly. Alex stared her down, his expression not budging an inch.
“And they'll hurt you if you turn yourself in.” Alex put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “And Charles would never forgive himself if he got you hurt. You know that better than anyone.” She did know that but that did not ease the knot in her stomach. Alex moved his hand from her shoulder and wrapped his arm around her; for some reason she let him. “We have to wait.” He started to lead her down the stairs and away from the door. She hated that he was right, they had to wait for Charles to contact her and tell her what to do. Sean and Hank did not say anything when they walked back into the main room and Alex did not remove his arm from her shoulders for a long time.
+++
Three days later Raven heard a voice in her head. For anyone else this would have been disconcerting but Raven nearly cried in relief. The voice in her head was Charles but he sounded far away. She could not project back to him because it was almost like backlash. It was just Charles' voice telling her not to stay hidden three times in a row. She appreciated that he did not insult her intelligence by telling her not to worry. She thought she was alone when it happened but someone took her hand and lead her to a chair. It was a few minutes before she realized that it was Alex.
“What happened?” he asked quietly.
“It was Charles,” Raven replied. “He was telling me not to come. He doesn't want me to help, how can he expect me to sit back and do nothing?”
“It's been three days and there are still soldiers wandering around up there. Even if we got away from the house we wouldn't even know where to start. I promise you that those guys up there don't know anything either.” Alex knelt in front of her and stared her down. “Raven, Mystique, we can't leave without getting caught and your brother knows what he's doing. We have to wait.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Alex blinked, surprised by her forwardness maybe, before he smiled sadly.
“I know what it feels like to be separated from a sibling and not be able to do anything about it,” Alex said. When he did not offer anything more Raven decided not to push it. She had no right to ask and right now she appreciated what he was doing for her. Raven stayed in the chair with Alex kneeling in front of her until Sean walked in and asked what was going on. When Alex shooed him away and left her alone Raven let herself cry without fear of being judged. They were hiding in her own house with the army close enough that she could hear them moving around, Charles was in terrible danger but had told her to stay hidden, she was completely helpless. There was nothing she could do to save her family or her friends, nothing she could do to protect them, she was helpless and weak. Raven clenched her fists tight enough to draw her blood and screamed.
+++
Six days passed and she heard nothing from Charles. On the sixth day, Raven decided to let Angel out of the room where she was being kept. Sean was not happy about it but she caught the two of them talking about flying a few hours later. Hank said that they were both going to fly soon enough and that they should not worry. That seemed to ease some of the tension in her shoulders and it made Raven smile despite everything. There were no beds in the lower levels of the house so they were all sleeping on the floor. Despite her best attempts the first night she woke up sleeping close to Alex she tried to ignore it but now she expected to be lying close to him in the mornings. It was very late or very early, Raven was not entirely sure, when she woke up slowly to find Alex staring back at her. They were inches apart instead of the several feet in the distance that they had started with.
“Are you watching me sleep?” she asked a little amused.
“Yeah, your natural form just stuns me every time. So cool looking,” Alex replied and if Raven was not blue she was sure he would be able to see her blush in the early morning light. Instead she focused on how quiet the upstairs was.
“Do you hear anyone moving around upstairs?” she asked.
“No, but that doesn't mean--” Whatever Alex was saying did not matter because in the back of her mind she heard the word 'safe' and was on her feet in a second. “Raven, wait!” Alex did not bother to keep his voice low and she could hear everyone else stirring in the room but that did not matter. Raven did not hesitate to throw the door open and she froze the moment she turned the corner toward the front door. Charles stood in the hallway with Erik. They were bruised, beaten even, and they were leaning heavily on each other. Charles looked up and she met her brother’s big blue eyes. Instantly she knew that he had had to do something he did not agree with and that she was never going to get him to tell her exactly what had happened. But her brother was standing in front of her, alive, and that was all that mattered.
“Raven,” Charles said softly. Raven moved without hesitation and threw her arms around her brother, hugging him tightly, never ever wanting to let him out of her sight again.
“You're home,” she whispered.
Author: safaiagem / bloody-hellfire
Word Count: 2,465
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Alex/Raven, background Charles/Erik, ensemble cast
Warnings none
Summary: Raven worries and can only do so much when her brother vanishes.
Notes: Takes place during I'll Take The Force of the Blow so you should read that first. I finished this like two months ago and completely forgot about it. For some reason this pairing just wouldn't get out of my head. Title, like the story before it, is taken from 'Protection' by Massive Attack. laria_gwyn is my beta and I <3 her. Please don't sue me I'm just playing in the sandbox.
Stand In Front Of You
On the one hand Raven did not worry about her brother.. He was a telepath and probably one of the most powerful ones in the world. His floppy hair and big blue eyes just made people underestimate him and that helped keep him safe. As far as Raven knew Charles had never found a limit to his powers and, in a few years, Raven could see him becoming a terrifying force. Charles could protect himself, she knew that, but Raven also knew that he was prone not to. He was dense, naïve and a little too enthusiastic for his own good and it got him in trouble. Charles seemed to have no sense of self preservation at times and it seemed to get even worse if Erik Lehnsherr was involved. It had been years since Raven had worried about Charles pushing himself too far but as soon as Erik stepped into the picture she worried again. He did not seem to realize it but Erik enabled Charles to push himself harder despite claiming to do the contrary.
So when she didn’t hear from either Erik or Charles on the first day, she wasn’t worried. One of them usually called every other day. The cost to make so many long distance calls was probably more than Charles was willing to admit but he also worried. He was hesitant to leave them at all because of what had happened the last time, when Shaw had killed Armando and Angel left, but he could not stay with them forever. She had promised to be careful and that had seemed to ease some his worries. When she did not hear from either Charles or Erik on the second day Raven spent the majority of the day staying close to the phone in case it rang.
“The Professor can hear someone thinking an impure thought fifty miles away. I don't know why you worry so much,” Alex said when he caught her near the phone the third time that day.
“It's not that,” Raven replied. “Charles just has a tendency to push himself too far, and I'm not sure how much help Erik would be if that happened.”
“You're kidding, right?” Alex said laughing. “If there is anyone that you shouldn't worry about hurting your brother it would be Erik.”
“I'm not so sure,” Raven muttered. Alex tilted his head to the side slightly and watched her carefully. She could feel his blue eyes staring her down, trying to get a read on her, but Raven could change her appearance with a thought; she knew she could hide her tells.
“It's my night to make dinner. Why don't you give me a hand? I'm not very good plus it'll get your mind off of waiting for them to call,” Alex suggested. It was exactly what she needed to do actually, but she was also sure that she did not give that away.
“You just want my help.”
Alex grinned and held out a hand gesturing toward the kitchen with a nod. Raven stared at the hand for a moment before she let him take her to the kitchen to 'help' with dinner.
+++
Hank looked a little uneasy when he came up for dinner. Raven could only guess that he was still a little uncomfortable in his body’s new form. She liked the change, thought it suited him in an odd way, but it was going to take some time until he was used to it. Sean joined them not long after, rolling his shoulders. Angel was still downstairs and Raven made a mental note to take some food down to her later. She was not quite ready to let the other girl move freely throughout the house. She had betrayed them and that still stung, but she also knew better than to damn someone else for a mistake.
“I'm thinking of going flying tomorrow,” Sean said as he sat down.
“Is your arm up for that?” Raven asked. She set the macaroni and cheese on the table.
“Only one way to find out,” Sean replied shrugging.
“Can I push you out the window this time?” Alex put the last of the milk out on the table as Sean glared. “Something bothering you, Hank?”
“I don't know what it is,” Hank replied softly. “Something doesn't feel right.” Raven felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She trusted Hank's instincts and if he said something was not right she believed him. “I think we should go downstairs.”
“Right now? We're about to eat,” Sean said halfway through a mouthful of hotdog.
“I said I think we should go downstairs,” Hank said firmly.
“All right, all right, let's go,” Raven said. Alex nodded and they gathered the bowls of food to bring with them. Sean looked annoyed but Hank growled at him when he mentioned it. Raven was halfway down to the lower levels of the house when her keen hearing picked up something that was not supposed to be there. She was about to turn around to investigate when Hank appeared, closing the door behind him. She glanced at him and he nodded stiffly; someone was in the house. Raven reached the bottom of the stairs and and they heard footsteps above them.
“Someone is in the house,” Sean said, food forgotten.
“The Professor told us to be safe,” Hank said.
“We need to find out who is coming after us, too,” Raven said. “Let me go look.”
“That doesn't sound like being safe to me,” Alex said frowning deeply.
“I'll just copy someone if I need to.” Raven ignored the way Alex and Hank glanced at her sideways. “Charles hasn't called or projected to me in a few days, and now someone breaks into the house? I have to go see if I can find anything out.”
“Raven, wait--” Hank began but this was her brother and she was not going to take any risks. If something was wrong she needed to know. Raven eased the door open and looked outside. She was one room over and she could see into the hallway. No one was in room she was in so she could see them but they could not see her. There were soldiers from the American military walking around her house. White hot rage flowed through her entire body as they began to look through everything, as they violated their home.
“What have you found?” a familiar voice called out. Raven watched as Director McCone from the CIA walked into the room.
“No one is here, sir,” a soldier said. McCone looked thoughtful as he looked around the house.
“Miss Darkholm, I know you're here somewhere,” he called out. “I want you to know something as you hide like the little rats that you are; your brother misses you dearly. All you need to do is come out here with the rest of your little crowd and you'll ease a lot of his pain.”
Raven felt her stomach drop; they had Charles. The CIA had Charles and they were hurting him. She would do anything for Charles; he had altered the mind of his mother so she could live with him, and she could not just sit there while they hurt him. She had to do something. But if she revealed just herself, perhaps she could keep the others safe.
Someone moved behind her and put a hand over her mouth, Raven was so startled she nearly broke their arm. She turned and saw Alex, his body nearly humming with energy and rage, and for a moment she thought he was going to rush the soldiers with her. Instead he placed a finger to his lips and shook his head slowly. He began to walk backwards slowly as if to move her away from the door, but Raven could not just sit here. Charles was hurt, Charles was in the hands of people that hated what he was, and she had to do something. Alex put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed; she could break his arm if she needed to but that seemed mean. As soon as it was sealed she pushed Alex away from her, furious.
“What do you think you're doing, Summers?” Raven snapped. “They have Charles, they probably have Erik, and you want me to walk away?”
“Yes, because that's what your brother told you to do. He wanted you safe and you're going to run out there and let them take you?” Alex said probably trying to sound reasonable but instead it made Raven want to punch him.
“They said they were hurting him,” she said softly. Alex stared her down, his expression not budging an inch.
“And they'll hurt you if you turn yourself in.” Alex put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “And Charles would never forgive himself if he got you hurt. You know that better than anyone.” She did know that but that did not ease the knot in her stomach. Alex moved his hand from her shoulder and wrapped his arm around her; for some reason she let him. “We have to wait.” He started to lead her down the stairs and away from the door. She hated that he was right, they had to wait for Charles to contact her and tell her what to do. Sean and Hank did not say anything when they walked back into the main room and Alex did not remove his arm from her shoulders for a long time.
+++
Three days later Raven heard a voice in her head. For anyone else this would have been disconcerting but Raven nearly cried in relief. The voice in her head was Charles but he sounded far away. She could not project back to him because it was almost like backlash. It was just Charles' voice telling her not to stay hidden three times in a row. She appreciated that he did not insult her intelligence by telling her not to worry. She thought she was alone when it happened but someone took her hand and lead her to a chair. It was a few minutes before she realized that it was Alex.
“What happened?” he asked quietly.
“It was Charles,” Raven replied. “He was telling me not to come. He doesn't want me to help, how can he expect me to sit back and do nothing?”
“It's been three days and there are still soldiers wandering around up there. Even if we got away from the house we wouldn't even know where to start. I promise you that those guys up there don't know anything either.” Alex knelt in front of her and stared her down. “Raven, Mystique, we can't leave without getting caught and your brother knows what he's doing. We have to wait.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Alex blinked, surprised by her forwardness maybe, before he smiled sadly.
“I know what it feels like to be separated from a sibling and not be able to do anything about it,” Alex said. When he did not offer anything more Raven decided not to push it. She had no right to ask and right now she appreciated what he was doing for her. Raven stayed in the chair with Alex kneeling in front of her until Sean walked in and asked what was going on. When Alex shooed him away and left her alone Raven let herself cry without fear of being judged. They were hiding in her own house with the army close enough that she could hear them moving around, Charles was in terrible danger but had told her to stay hidden, she was completely helpless. There was nothing she could do to save her family or her friends, nothing she could do to protect them, she was helpless and weak. Raven clenched her fists tight enough to draw her blood and screamed.
+++
Six days passed and she heard nothing from Charles. On the sixth day, Raven decided to let Angel out of the room where she was being kept. Sean was not happy about it but she caught the two of them talking about flying a few hours later. Hank said that they were both going to fly soon enough and that they should not worry. That seemed to ease some of the tension in her shoulders and it made Raven smile despite everything. There were no beds in the lower levels of the house so they were all sleeping on the floor. Despite her best attempts the first night she woke up sleeping close to Alex she tried to ignore it but now she expected to be lying close to him in the mornings. It was very late or very early, Raven was not entirely sure, when she woke up slowly to find Alex staring back at her. They were inches apart instead of the several feet in the distance that they had started with.
“Are you watching me sleep?” she asked a little amused.
“Yeah, your natural form just stuns me every time. So cool looking,” Alex replied and if Raven was not blue she was sure he would be able to see her blush in the early morning light. Instead she focused on how quiet the upstairs was.
“Do you hear anyone moving around upstairs?” she asked.
“No, but that doesn't mean--” Whatever Alex was saying did not matter because in the back of her mind she heard the word 'safe' and was on her feet in a second. “Raven, wait!” Alex did not bother to keep his voice low and she could hear everyone else stirring in the room but that did not matter. Raven did not hesitate to throw the door open and she froze the moment she turned the corner toward the front door. Charles stood in the hallway with Erik. They were bruised, beaten even, and they were leaning heavily on each other. Charles looked up and she met her brother’s big blue eyes. Instantly she knew that he had had to do something he did not agree with and that she was never going to get him to tell her exactly what had happened. But her brother was standing in front of her, alive, and that was all that mattered.
“Raven,” Charles said softly. Raven moved without hesitation and threw her arms around her brother, hugging him tightly, never ever wanting to let him out of her sight again.
“You're home,” she whispered.