Chapter Text
Charles Xavier was having the worst day of his life.
He immediately felt guilty for having this thought, thinking that surely the day his father passed away was worse - but that had happened a lifetime ago, when he was five, and he could barely remember it. He quelled his guilt by telling himself that objectively, a day when one loses one's job, one's fiance, and one's inheiritance is a pretty bad day.
"Charles..." His younger sister Raven didn't know what to say to him; she wasn't good in these kinds of situations. She awkwardly petted his arm for a moment and sighed. "There's no chance Emma would reconsider?"
They were sitting at their favorite bench in Central Park. The January day was overcast, which seemed fitting, to Charles. He sighed, contemplating Raven's question. "I doubt it. I think me losing my teaching position was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. We already had some other - problems."
"Are there any - sexual problems?" Raven asked, jokingly, making a joke from a television program so old that nobody but her brother would have gotten the reference. It was a completely inappropriate, and therefore very appropriately Raven thing to say. Charles snorted a laugh despite himself.
"Actually...well, anyway, it's not something we'll have to worry about anymore," Charles said, taking a deep, cleansing breath and then taking another because he didn't feel all that cleansed. His mind kept running in circles, and not the productive kind, the what-if kind. What if he hadn't come out to his mother in the nineties, prompting her to change her will? What if he had taken the position offered to him at Oxford, instead of at Columbia? What if Raven hadn't gotten pregnant 6 months ago by a guy she barely knew?
"I'll get a job," Raven said suddenly. "I have waited tables before, and I can do it again."
Charles felt a rush of tenderness for his little sister wash over him. He pulled her close and kissed the side of her head. "Thank you, but that would be a temporary solution at best, and I would rather see you and your child healthy and happy." Raven moved her hand to her swollen belly then, in an instinctive protective measure. She hadn't been serious about getting a job and they both knew it, but he thought it was very sweet of her to offer.
"We could move back to the mansion in Westchester," Charles suggested to Raven, thoughtfully. They currently shared a very small two-bedroom apartment in Central Park West, but it was costing him a small fortune in rent every month.
"Another temporary solution," Raven pointed out. "We would get kicked out in two months when you turn thirty and are still single."
Charles glumly kicked at the pavement and continued the what-if game in his head. What if Raven had been a legitimate child of his father's? What if his mother hadn't put the stupid clause about being married by the time he was thirty in order to inherit in the will?
What if he actually had enough money to pay February's rent? Charles realized with a sinking feeling that he shouldn't have been quite so generous on Christmas and baby presents for Raven. He'd been counting on income from the spring semester to pay off his credit card and refill his coffers until his wedding day, but now...
Charles put his head in his hands and moaned, thinking of all the lost deposits for wedding vendors.
"Charles," Raven said gently. "My shift at Immigrant Relations begins in a few minutes. Are you going to be okay if I go?" Raven volunteered a few hours per week at Immigrant relations, a non-profit immigrant resource center. Charles teased her that it was because she wanted to meet exotic men, but he knew a big part of it was that she wanted to travel. She had not been able to accompany him on a lot of the travelling he had done with his family when he was younger, as Raven had been treated as an annoying afterthought by his mother. She was the illegitimate child of Charles' father Brian Xavier and a former maid who died when Raven was only eight years old. Having no other family, she moved in to the Xavier family mansion, even though Brian Xavier had passed away years before. If it hadn't been for the combination of Charles' insistence and Sharon Xavier's alcoholism, Raven might have grown up in a foster home.
"Charles?" Raven asked softly, her eyes big and concerned.
Charles dragged his thoughts back to the present. "Sorry," he said crisply. "I think I just need a good night's sleep. I'm having trouble getting my thoughts in order."
Raven nodded. "I'll be done by 8:00pm," she promised. "I'll even play chess with you if you want."
Charles had to laugh at that. Raven hated chess. "Wow, you must really be worried about me," he chuckled, even as he blinked back a tear or two.
**
Normally Charles liked his apartment a lot, even though it was small, because it was cozy and in a great location and it was perfect for him and Raven. Emma had hardly ever visited, but that was fine with him; Raven had struck a little too close to home with her joke about 'sexual problems.' Charles could have counted on both hands how many times he and Emma had had sex during their eighteen-month relationship. She was a beautiful woman, and he told her that often, but heat and passion were not her way. Everything about Emma was cool, almost cold. It had seemed to work out well, though, as Charles wasn't particularly interested in sex either after the first few times. In that they were well-matched.
Charles walked in to his tiny apartment and flopped on his tiny couch. The pleasantly overcast day haded faded into a gloomy evening, but Charles didn't bother turning on any lights. He thought about his last conversation with Emma, just hours ago, staring up at the ceiling.
"Oh sugar, are you sure they won't hire you back?" She'd said, checking her lipstick.
"Yes. It's a matter of funding," Charles explained glumly. His promising tenure-track position in genetics had been downgraded far past 'adjunct professor' down to non-existant.
"So what does that mean for us?" She asked Charles directly. He explained about money being tight, and the rent problem, and could he and Raven stay with her for a couple months until after the wedding?
"Charles. I do have sympathy for you, but...I really can't do that. There just isn't enough room here." Emma had a two-bedroom apartment twice the size of Charles and Raven's. Charles mouth fell open a little bit as Emma continued. "I have been thinking about something else over the past few days, anyway...we really aren't perfect for each other, are we?"
"Of course we are, don't be ridiculous," Charles responded quickly, reflexively.
Emma looked at him searchingly. She could read him very well, had always been able to do that. "You know that's not true."
"See, how well you know me," he continued weakly.
"Charles, if Raven wasn't pregnant, you wouldn't give a shit about your inheritance, would you?"
Charles was stunned into speechlessness. "So I should be ashamed that I'm not greedy?" he said slowly, not bothering to deny her accusation.
"Of course not," she said smoothly. "That's very noble, Charles; very good. You'll probably give most of it away to charity or some wonderful cause and will never, ever, rock any boats." Uncharacteristically, Emma's eyes shone with some wetness for a moment, which disappeared nearly as quickly as it had appeared.
"Emma..." Charles couldn't put his finger on it, but he was no slouch at reading people, either. "What are you not telling me?"
She took a breath and then responded, in a measured tone, "Don't you think we deserve more?"
So this is about money, Charles thought. He sighed. "Emma, we can revisit the pre-nup if it's really that important to you. I thought the one we had was satisfactory, but..."
"This is not about money," Emma snapped. "I have money."
Charles was surprised to realize that he believed her, but - then what was the problem?
"I - I don't want want to lose you," he said, a little desperately, when the silence had dragged on and the air had become icy.
"You don't want to lose Raven," she said softly, and Charles knew she was right, but losing Emma just made everything else so complicated.
"I met someone," she said calmly, after a long silence. Charles looked at her in surprise. "You - Oh." Even knowing her as he did, he was surprised, then started to feel - affronted. "Have you been cheating on me?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, would you really care if I was?"
Charles wasn't sure how to reply to that, because he either didn't know or didn't like the answer, and was afraid to find out which it was.
"I have not 'cheated' on you," she said, the word sounding bitter in her mouth. "But I have met someone, and he makes me feel - amazing. Like I'm melting. He took me for a ride on his motorcycle. Can you imagine me riding a motorcycle?" She smiled radiantly, an expression Charles had never seen on her face before. Emma's smiles were always calculated to match the intensity of the situation, never too quick or too slow to leave her face. But now - she started talking about this Canadian guy named Logan quickly and breathlessly and with a light in her eyes Charles had definitely never seen before, possibly not in anyone's eyes, ever.
Charles stared at his now-former fiance like he no longer knew her. He left, then, without saying good-bye, not even sure if he was angry or hurt or jealous, but he couldn't get the joyful expression on her face out of his head. That was right before he texted Raven to meet him at their bench.
**
It was Angel who pointed out the hot German immigrant to Raven that evening. "His name's Erik," Angel stage-whsipered to Raven. The man was seated nearby, reading a book, seeming completely unruffled by the multi-lingual cacophany of the Immigrant Relations Center. Angel lowered her voice. "He's looking for a way to stay. He can't go back to Germany because some Russian guy is after him."
"Well, at least we have that in common," Raven said dryly. The man Raven had been seeing six months ago was Russian, and although his interest in her had cooled significantly after they'd had sex a few times, it had come to his attention via social media that Raven was pregnant and he was desperately trying to talk to her about it.
Angel looked at her. "You haven't talked to Azazel about this yet?"
Raven cleared her throat and pretended she hadn't heard the question. "So, about Erik - why is there someone after him? Did he do something?"
Angel shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't ask. But, he's got a wad of cash for anyone who has a permanent way for him to stay in the U.S."
"How much of a wad?" Raven asked.
Angel grinned. "Negotiation is out of the scope of my involvement," she said, smacking her gum. "Also - you're not his type."
Raven snorted. "Have you seen me? I'm not anyone's type right now. That doesn't mean I wouldn't propose marriage if the size of his wad is impressive enough, if you know what I mean."
Angel grinned even bigger. "Did you know that some governments keep track of things like sexual orientation?"
"No, but I can't say I'm surp-" Raven broke off. "He's gay?" She looked over at the broodingly handsome man. "Wow, I don't see that at all."
"I know right?" Angel seems weirdly gleeful about it. "But he is definitely, apparently documentably gay, because they check this stuff out on social media and stuff. Anyway, he's looking for - "
"A man to marry," Raven breathed. Same-sex marriage was legal in New York. SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGAL IN NEW YORK!
"I have to make a phone call," Raven said hurriedly to Angel. "Don't let that man get married in the next five minutes!"