A/N – Just to clarify because I'm not sure it's completely clear in the story - Raven is Charles older sister and not adopted.

Oh, and I know Charles is fairly OOC in this chapter, but the reasons for that will become clear and, rest assured, Charles will recover.

…

Timing, Erik knew, was the major reason for his and Raven's friendship. He had (finally) finished his Roaring Rampage of Revenge (Raven's name) with the very long, painful death of Herr Doktor. Erik had found himself not quite sure what to do with his life and had somehow ended up renting an apartment that he was sure was far out of his price range. There may have been drink involved in that particular decision.

Raven had been renting the apartment next door.

They had ended up bonding (OK, maybe bonding was a bit of a strong word) over the fact they both had no idea what to do with their life and they both happened to be mutants. Drink had definitely been involved.

Raven hadn't given him much choice in the matter of whether they were friends or not.

Drink had also been involved when Erik had persuaded Raven to go out all blue. As much as she wanted to go all 'mutant and proud' that fact was she had scared the hell out of one guy who was definitely high on something. Perhaps a number of things. And who had charged at her claiming she was an evil witch from some video game. They also managed to not get one drink in the whole night when Raven was blue. They agreed she wouldn't go all blue again.

Drink hadn't been involved when had that one time decided to date. Drink was always involved when either of them ever remembered it because it had been a major mistake which they Did Not Talk About because dating had been just plain weird.

Which was how Raven came to be sitting at his kitchen table looking nervous.

"Erik, you remember me telling you about my baby brother, right?"

Erik dug around through all the things Raven had told him. She was used to him forgetting what she had told him, after all, she talked a lot, but she expected him to remember the important stuff and it seemed like her brother was one of the things she expected him to remember.

"The telepath, right?"

"Charles," she said, almost severe. "His name is Charles."

OK. Sore spot, hit. He could understand being sore about people classifying them only through their mutations, but this seemed particularly sore. He inclined his head for Raven to continue.

"OK. The thing is, well, oh, I suppose I better start at the beginning. Charles is going to kill me for telling you. Our stepfather, to put it bluntly, experimented on Charles. On his telepathy." Erik sat ramrod straight. It sounded like … Raven noticed and nodded, "Yeah, exactly. I tried to look after him the best I could, but there was really nothing I could do, only try to look after him afterwards. I could hardly protect him and Charles couldn't do anything because Marko had developed this sort of telepathy blocker. Pretty much unnoticeable and he wore it all the time. He'd started work on it pretty much as soon as he got his hands on Charles, so Charles could never resist. And Mother … Mother would never hear a work against Marko, even when she knew he had only married her for her money. I suppose he manipulated her completely as well. Then … then there was the fire in the lab. Charles escaped but Marko didn't. We didn't look into it, we just thought good riddance and Charles was finally able to try and have a life. The thing is Charles saw Marko just this morning. I know Charles, he doesn't make that kind of mistake. That means Marko's alive and he faked his own death. We don't know why and we don't know what he's after. Charles is terrified and so he's going to be staying with me for a bit."

Raven hesitated before she looked Erik straight in the eyes. "A few things. Right now Charles is going into all out panic. Sometimes when he's majorly panicked or upset he has a tendency to communicate with just his mind. I'm used to it, but you aren't. Please try not to let it freak you out too much. Also," she really did look nervous now, "I know you're not exactly a therapy kinda guy, but I thought, you might … understand." He nodded once, "Oh, and Erik? I know you're not really in the revenge business any more, but if you happen to see Marko…"

He nodded again.

…

If Erik hadn't been thinking of killing Marko before, he was now. He had entered Raven's apartment only to find the most adorable little mess shivering on the sofa, looking like a rabbit caught it the headlights.

"Erik," he said, walking over and holding his hand out, resolutely ignoring the fact that the other man was clearly terrified.

"Charles – uh Raven told me about you."

"Likewise." Charles seemed to suddenly find the floor fascinating.

"Everything?" Charles was fiddling with his sleeves, tearing the shirt apart, thread by thread.

"Yeah. Sorry." Charles' sense of shame seemed to only increase. Obviously 'sorry' was the wrong thing to say. Did Charles think Erik was blaming him or something? Erik panicked whilst desperately trying not to show he was panicking. This was obviously supposed to be the bit that he talked to Charles. He wasn't cut out for the talking, comforting thing, "Hey, look. It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know."

"Isn't it?" Plaintive. That was the word. And Erik understood, though he didn't know what to say. The feeling that you had let this happen that it was somehow your fault. He understood. Erik had translated everything, the grief, the pain and the shame into anger, but he could never entirely ignore it.

"No – I – look, I understand," disbelief radiated off Charles. Telepathic, Erik reminded himself, before wondering if Charles had actually spoken during their 'conversation'. He didn't think so. Raven had said this would happen. Well then, Erik was going to show him what it was like not to be ashamed. He rolled up his sleeve and showed Charles his tattoo, the numbers he had never shown anyone willingly, "I'm like you. You're not alone. I'll let you see everything, if you like." Erik tried to sound sure, but he couldn't help trembling. He was going to show someone his darkest memories in the hope that it would help. He wondered if he was mad.

Disbeliefamazementwonder flooded Erik's mind and Charles nodded hesitantly before putting his fingers to Erik's temple.

The camps. The endless camps. His family being ripped away. The gates.

Herr Doktor. Klaus Schmidt. Sebastian Shaw. The name changed, the hatred stayed.

The coin. He couldn't move the coin. Count to three. Eins. Desperation. Just a little coin. Zwei. Alles ist gut. Alles ist gut. Drei.

MAMA!

The experiments. All of them. The wires and the knives and the pain. The expression of benign interest on his torturer's face.

Shall we play a game, Little Erik?

He hated the 'games' most of all.

Then … the ending of the camps. The search. A thousand Nazis killed but never the one he hated the most. Until, finally

Revenge.

And it tasted so sweet.

"Oh, Erik," it took a moment for Erik to realise that Charles was speaking to him. Actually speaking, with his voice, not his mind. It took another moment for Erik to realise what Charles meant.

"Charles, what I went through doesn't diminish the things you went through at all. And we'll fix this, I promise."

"But I'm not a fighter. Not like you. And I can't hide here forever."

"I think you are much more of a fighter than you think you are. But if not? Well, you've seen me fight."

Later Erik would wonder when he had started to care about Charles' welfare. He didn't generally do 'emotional involvement' after all. Then he realised he had started caring even before he met Charles, when Raven had told him about Charles' suffering under Marko, and he had been angry, because it had been similar to his with Shaw.

Erik had very few things that he felt truly protective of in his life, and now, without even Erik really noticing, Charles has become one of those things.

…

A/N – How's that for an opening chapter? C'mon, please tell me. I know it's a bit short but meh, it will develop.

So yeah, at the moment Erik is just feeling very protective towards Charles and nothing more, but that will change as Charles begins to recover and becomes more like the Charles we know.