New Home, New Family

Due to the gravel that surrounded the mansion turned school, Erik was forced to carry Jason inside, holding him next to his chest as the boy's fingers grasped the fabric of his sweater, the man's jacket around his shoulders. Even though he was far from healthy, the young mutant had refused to sleep in the car, still too terrified of what would lie behind his closed eyes.

As the two men came closer to the front doors, they flew open as Raven, all smiles and innocence came charging out in all her great sapphire glory.

"Charles! Erik! You're back early! Did you…"

She froze, eyes wide as her hand flew over her mouth.

"Raven, I want you to run a bath," Charles told her, "I'll see if I can find some of my old clothes."

Nodding, the young lady ran back inside, soon followed by her brother.

Luckily, Jason hadn't been paying the new acquaintance much attention, far too fascinated with the vast brick building to take any notice of the blue woman. His grip on Erik's shirt lessened slightly from the lack of an audience, though he pulled himself further into his chest.

"Erik," he said, his voice sweet and quiet, though slightly rough from the dryness of his throat, "where are we?"

"This is a school for people with special gifts," he replied, "like you. It's a place where people like us can live in peace. Welcome to your new home."

Smiling, the young boy looked up at the doorway as they approached it. "Home."

The word sounded like as alien concept coming out of his mouth, and it only reminded Erik of the way he had felt when the Russians had liberated the camp he had been kept in. It didn't seem right for a child of such a young age to have gone through something so similar to his own experiences to make him react in such a way.

Remaining silent as he carried Jason through the halls, Erik maneuvered them into the kitchen, leading him to the sink. It was almost dinner time, but he had a feeling that neither he nor their new guest would be able to stomach any heavy foods for a while.

After washing his own hands, he helped Jason with his own before leading him to one of the chairs around the table. Grabbing a glass, he filled it at the tap and snatched a few bananas and a bowl from the fruit bowl and cupboard. They had to eat something, right?

Placing the glass in front of the young mutant, he took a seat opposite him and began to peel the skin off of the fruit, the container now sat between his elbows.

Hesitantly, Jason picked up the water and took a sip before placing it back down on the table, his eyes watching Erik's fingers.

Picking up a knife from the pot in the middle of the table, the metal bender began to slice the banana, letting the pieces drop into the bowl with soft thumps. Once two of the yellow fruits had been sliced, Erik pushed the bowl in front of the boy, peeling another for himself.

It was only after Erik had taken the first bite that Jason picked up one of the slices, bringing it slowly to his mouth, still far too wary of any threats. Once he had swallowed the first piece, the others followed in quick succession, and it wasn't long before the bowl was empty, though it was clear from the way he held his arms around his stomach that it was a bad idea for him to eat much more so soon after his previous... diet.

Knowing it would still be some time before the bath would be ready, the metakinetic collected the waste and dumped it in the bin, leaving the bowl in the sink.
"Would you like me to show you to your room?" he asked, standing behind his chair as he looked across at his charge.

Nodding, Jason pushed his chair back and jumped off, picking up his unfinished drink and trotting to his side.

Just about to set off, Erik paused as he felt the unfamiliar sensation of small fingers sliding around his own, squeezing them tightly, and he became aware of the young mind brushing against his own, seeking the protection and certainty he seemed to find there.

Erik smiled down at him. "Come on, follow me."

The room Charles had picked out for the boy was on the first floor, overlooking the basketball court. There were four beds in the room (all built within the past few weeks) and a bathroom just down the hallway. The windows were large enough for the entire room to be flooded by sunlight, and they seemed to fascinate him.

A small pile of clothes had been folded into neat piles at the end of the bed, along with a pair of well-worn trainers and some towels, and Jason was carefully studying them.

The shirts were mostly the usual buttoned up type, a few short sleeved and a few long, though there were one or two polo shirts thrown in there as well. There was also a few pairs of trousers, mostly in a beige colour, and a jumper or two, but the thing that seemed to fascinate Jason the most was the belt.

Erik could remember from those images Jason had shown him that the belt, though not the prominent weapon of choice, had been the most memorable of all of William Stryker's 'tools', having featured in most of the scenes shown him. Silently cursing himself for neglecting to share the information, he picked up the offending piece of clothing and threw it out the door, closing it behind him.

Turning back around, he found that the young Telepath was still staring at the spot where the belt had been, shivers running through his body and he looked as though he was going to collapse in a heap.

"Jason?"

Nothing. Just a quickening in breathing that spoke of the chaos inside.

"Jason!"

Blinking, the boy looked up at him, his eyes full of tears and memories; memories that deserved to be forgotten.

Before he knew it, the lad's thin arms were wrapped around his waist, his head buried in the folds of his sweater as the tears finally revealed themselves.
Unable to move out of shock, Erik stood like a scarecrow, arms outstretched as he stared down at the strange sight. When the boy refused to move, he slowly lowered his hands, letting them lie on his head and back.

Saying nothing, the man rubbed Jason's back, knowing that small sign of affection would be the difference between the child's breaking point and a road to recovery. If only someone had been there for him…

The bath had been filled and the belt removed from the landing along with everyone's wardrobes, so draw string trousers were suddenly extremely popular with the inhabitants of the Xavier mansion. It had been a day since their new arrival, but he had yet to make an appearance to anyone other than Charles and Erik. And so, yet another meeting had been called.

However, getting everyone together was one thing, but convincing Jason that none of the people in that room would harm him was another.

As soon as Charles had suggested it, Jason had paled considerably and locked himself in his room. Erik could easily have opened it, and the boy knew that, but he remained outside, waiting for his reappearance.

It had been nearly an hour since the young professor had made his suggestion, and everyone had arrived in the television room to wait, but still the door hadn't opened.

Giving up on standing some time before, Lehnsherr was sat next to the door, leaning against the wall.

"I promise you, my friends will not harm you," he said for what felt like the thousandth time, knowing he would get no reply in return, "I trust them with my life. You saw it yourself in my thoughts when…" He broke himself off, wincing slightly at where that sentence was leading.

As expected, he received no reply for his efforts.

He sighed. "You don't have to meet them all at once." He heaved himself to his feet. "I won't force you to do it now, but you're going to have to do it sooner or later if you're going to live here. You're bound to run into them sooner or later."

Looking at the door again, he shook his head and began to make his way down the corridor towards the stairs… until he heard a faint click.

Turning back around, he found Jason stood clutching the side of the door wearing some of the clothes Charles had given him, though his feet remained bare. They really didn't suit him.

"You promise?" he asked, his fingers white from gripping the wood so hard.

"I promise," he replied holding out his hand.

Slowly, tentatively, Jason made his way towards him and curled his fingers around Erik's, holding a fist to his lips, the fear in his eyes clearly visible, though there was a hint of courage mixed within.

They made their way down the stairs in relative silence, the creak of the wood beneath their feet the only thing that made a sound other than the old grandfather clock in the main hallway. Well, apart from the raised voices that were emerging from a certain room.

As Erik rolled his eyes, he felt the grip on his hand tighten.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'm here."

Jason nodded and took a deep breath.

The closer they got to the television room, the closer Jason got to his savior until it got to the point where he was practically hugging the man.

Don't worry, came a familiar voice, I'll get them all settled.

By the time the two of them reached the door, the voices had been silenced. Erik didn't know whether that was better or not though.

"Would you like to knock?" he asked, pulling the boy out from behind him.

Raising his fist, Jason tapped the door lightly, barely making any sound at all.

"Come in," came a voice from inside, sounding unmistakably feminine.

Taking hold of the handle with both hands and taking another breath, he opened the door.

Raven was in her 'human' form sitting on the seat in the window, Sean and Alex were seated on opposite ends of a sofa, trying very hard not to look at each other (probably the reason behind the raised voices) and Charles was in an armchair that had been moved so that it would be facing the whole room instead of the television.

The professor smiled as he stood, his sudden movements making Jason step back into Erik.

"I'm sorry," Charles said, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's okay," the boy replied, though he didn't move.

"I'm sorry all the same." He took another step forwards but no more when he noticed the boy's hand holding onto Erik's trousers. "I suppose I should introduce you to everyone."

Jason shook his head. "I already know who you all are."

The others looked a little shocked, but Charles just smirked, "Of course you do."

"You're Alex Summers," he said, pointing at the blonde boy, "you can shoot lasers! And you're Sean Cassidy, and you can fly because Erik pushed you off the satellite!"

Erik snickered as the Banshee's face fell.

"And you're Raven Xavier!" Jason continued, letting go of Erik's trousers as he blushed slightly, "But... I think you look a lot prettier when you're blue."

Lips turning into a soft smile, Raven let herself slowly morph into her original form. "Better?"

Looking up, Jason smiled, "Much better. But where's Hank McCoy? Is he frightened he'd scare me?"

Erik shook his head. Not moments before he'd been a quivering wreck that was terrified of coming in contact with anyone, barring him of course, and now he was asking to see more? Wonder what had changed...

I suspect it has something to do with that little talk you had upstairs.

Looking at Charles, he raised an eyebrow.

Oh?

He feels safe with you here, the Telepath explained, and the fact that your connection to the boy doesn't bother him is something he's not had in a long time. I expect he's trying to face his fears rather than let them haunt him. He must have learnt that from you.

Learnt it from...?

Putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, Jason looked up at him, his eyes still swimming with that fear, though the contact seemed to make him relax slightly. He felt safe because he said he was going to protect him, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

AN - Not exactly what I was planning to write, but at least I wrote something.

After finding out I didn't pass my course in college, I was feeling a little down, but then this afternoon I got an e-mail from the University I want to go to saying I got in! WHOOP! #jumps over the moon and does the moon walk# You have no idea how happy that made me! I'm on a high I won't be able to come off of for days!

Anywho... I was listening to 'Sub Lift' from the X-Men First Class Soundtrack for this update.

I hope you guys liked it! And I hope I won't keep you waiting too long for the next update!