If the child Charles carried was a mutant, Erik's life would be as complete as it had ever been.
Towards the eighth month of Charles's pregnancy, Erik came across him and another omega -- a mutant girl -- talking quietly in the library. The door was slightly ajar and they hadn't seen him, absorbed in their conversation, and Erik was admittedly curious.
"If there's one similarity between humans and mutants, it's this business with alphas and omegas," Charles was saying. "You needn't worry so much, my dear. What you-- we learned as children still applies, even when the alpha in question is a pyrokinetic mutant."
"I'm afraid," the girl said in a small voice. "I mean, I know she loves me -- she does! -- and she's really good to me, but you hear stories and I don't know what I'll do if she. You know."
"Yes, I know," Charles said. Erik frowned. Was Charles's telepathy active? No, the collar was still on.
"At least she agreed that we could use birth control for a few years, until things get better around here." The girl was wringing her hands, tearing a wad of tissues into pieces. "I hate that I can't just say no. What if she becomes someone like Daddy's alpha? It's just. Sometimes I'm still not entirely comfortable."
"It's best that you talk to her about this. She's a good person, and one of the better alphas I've met." Charles lapsed into silence. "I haven't had the best of luck with alphas. Please don't ever let yourself use this, but I've learned over the years that fantasies of, um, that is, sexual fantasies -- well, they help make it easier, when... your respective desires don't align, so to speak."
The girl sucked in a breath.
Charles squeezed her hands. "In a perfect world, we would never have to speak about it like this. But I'm afraid the world is far from perfect, at least for now. What helps, my dear, is that you're not alone. You know where to go to for help, don't you?"
Erik resisted the urge to smash through the door and demand that Charles explain himself, even as the girl nodded, smiling the luminous smile that Erik had seen on a hundred mutant faces, all directed at Charles.
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"Does Charles find me attractive?" Erik said to Mystique, over their daily debriefing.
She leveled a flat stare at him. "You are a terrible conversationalist."
"If you can resist from passing judgment on my personality traits, answer the question."
"I don't think it matters," she said, kicking back in her chair. "Look, I can't explain it very well, but Charles is different, after Shaw. He really did a number on Charles -- I really wish you hadn't claimed him when you did, though I suppose you suit his needs well enough. If he had a list of 'qualities in alphas I want to mate with', desirability is so far down the list, it's not funny. It might be better, actually, if he doesn't find you fuckable."
"That's nonsense," he said. "Besides, Charles was Shaw's omega, not his lab rat."
Mystique tossed down a folder. "You know as well as I do that matings don't always happen on rose petals after being ordained by romantic fate. You should've treated Charles the way you would any mutant subject you found in Shaw's lab. You're going to regret not having done it, sooner or later."
Erik drifted towards one of the tall windows, looking down at the grounds. Below him, Charles sat surrounded by a ring of mutants of all ages, hanging on to his every word. There seemed to be more of them by the day, Erik thought.
"He's not going to raise an army against me, Mystique."
"Sure," she said. "But what will you do if he never loves you back?"
En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)
Towards the eighth month of Charles's pregnancy, Erik came across him and another omega -- a mutant girl -- talking quietly in the library. The door was slightly ajar and they hadn't seen him, absorbed in their conversation, and Erik was admittedly curious.
"If there's one similarity between humans and mutants, it's this business with alphas and omegas," Charles was saying. "You needn't worry so much, my dear. What you-- we learned as children still applies, even when the alpha in question is a pyrokinetic mutant."
"I'm afraid," the girl said in a small voice. "I mean, I know she loves me -- she does! -- and she's really good to me, but you hear stories and I don't know what I'll do if she. You know."
"Yes, I know," Charles said. Erik frowned. Was Charles's telepathy active? No, the collar was still on.
"At least she agreed that we could use birth control for a few years, until things get better around here." The girl was wringing her hands, tearing a wad of tissues into pieces. "I hate that I can't just say no. What if she becomes someone like Daddy's alpha? It's just. Sometimes I'm still not entirely comfortable."
"It's best that you talk to her about this. She's a good person, and one of the better alphas I've met." Charles lapsed into silence. "I haven't had the best of luck with alphas. Please don't ever let yourself use this, but I've learned over the years that fantasies of, um, that is, sexual fantasies -- well, they help make it easier, when... your respective desires don't align, so to speak."
The girl sucked in a breath.
Charles squeezed her hands. "In a perfect world, we would never have to speak about it like this. But I'm afraid the world is far from perfect, at least for now. What helps, my dear, is that you're not alone. You know where to go to for help, don't you?"
Erik resisted the urge to smash through the door and demand that Charles explain himself, even as the girl nodded, smiling the luminous smile that Erik had seen on a hundred mutant faces, all directed at Charles.
------------------------------------------
"Does Charles find me attractive?" Erik said to Mystique, over their daily debriefing.
She leveled a flat stare at him. "You are a terrible conversationalist."
"If you can resist from passing judgment on my personality traits, answer the question."
"I don't think it matters," she said, kicking back in her chair. "Look, I can't explain it very well, but Charles is different, after Shaw. He really did a number on Charles -- I really wish you hadn't claimed him when you did, though I suppose you suit his needs well enough. If he had a list of 'qualities in alphas I want to mate with', desirability is so far down the list, it's not funny. It might be better, actually, if he doesn't find you fuckable."
"That's nonsense," he said. "Besides, Charles was Shaw's omega, not his lab rat."
Mystique tossed down a folder. "You know as well as I do that matings don't always happen on rose petals after being ordained by romantic fate. You should've treated Charles the way you would any mutant subject you found in Shaw's lab. You're going to regret not having done it, sooner or later."
Erik drifted towards one of the tall windows, looking down at the grounds. Below him, Charles sat surrounded by a ring of mutants of all ages, hanging on to his every word. There seemed to be more of them by the day, Erik thought.
"He's not going to raise an army against me, Mystique."
"Sure," she said. "But what will you do if he never loves you back?"
END