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Charles is a warm presence by his side when the missiles hit their mark, tearing through the ships' hulls and tossing them in the air like they're nothing more than tinker toys. Black smoke, the color of coal, plumes through the air, darkening the skies and making a deep, almost feral satisfaction settle in his bones. He's going to make them pay; make them tremble beneath his feet for all the things they've done and are planning to do.
He has the strength to stop them now. If not for himself then for Charles, who trusted where he shouldn't have and been betrayed twice over for his faith. Turning on his heels, the fiery destruction momentarily forgotten, Erik studies his friend's face, taking in the pain filled eyes and the pale, pale skin. The quivering lips that press together so tightly he can almost taste the words that want to spill out of them, hear the anguish cries that hide behind every hitch of breath. He's done this to Charles and, despite its horribleness, it's a strangely beautiful sight: seeing the man break inside just the way Erik once had.
Gloved hands lifting, he pulls the helmet from his head, carefully tucking it against his side before stepping forward, right into the other man's personal space, forehead coming to rest against the telepath's own.
'Charles,' his mind whispers, reaching out for that mental bond that had linked them for weeks now; tying them together in ways that even he hadn't realized. 'Mein schatz.'
He feels it then, the strangely familiar caress of another's thoughts brushing against his own. It's enough to send shivers down his spine. He will never be used to this, the way this man can reach inside him, but he doesn't care. Charles had chosen him, in the end, and he will honor that by allowing the man to have what they've both desperately wanted but were too afraid to ask for: to never be alone again.
"Mein schatz," he repeats aloud, lips quirking when the endearment echoes inside their minds, perfectly together and beautiful. "Come, we have things to do."
'Together.'
END
Translation - 'Mein schatz' is the commonly used form of 'my darling'.