Crumbling Walls
by
Zerelda X


X-People belong to Marvel. Charlotte belongs to me. For entertainment purposes only.

---

Sean Cassidy rested irritably on his bed, glaring at the television that couldn't seem to show something more interesting than soap operas and cooking shows. Bloody hell, having to stay here under orders from Emma when he should be somewhere else. Anywhere else. And he wasn't, all because of Charlotte.

Insert appropriate Wolverine curse, he thought, because he would never refer to a lady in those terms himself. He wanted to, but he wouldn't. For now. Tomorrow might be a different story.

The large white bandage on his left shoulder itched like crazy. As he scratched it, mindful of the tender wound, Jubilee's words came echoing back to him. 'Geez, Sean, maybe you should be glad she didn't take yer scalp while she was at it.'

Running a hand through his hair, glad he still had hair, he rubbed his chin while his hand was in the vicinity. Scruffy. He hated the feel of an unshaven face. It felt like a man who didn't care enough about himself to bother. Like a drunk who didn't care about how he looked to the world. Like he used to be, not long enough ago.

Let her practice with the kids, Emma said, she's ready for it. She's a lot stronger now.

He hadn't been sure about it, but Emma solved that one, too. She stuck him inside with the group to keep an eye on things, up close and personal. Standing in there, he felt more like one of her pawns then ever.

Emma was right, Charlotte was strong. And skittish. He thought he had her in the Biosphere romp when she lost it. The moment his hand touched her shoulder, he was on the ground at her feet and the knife she carried in her boot was out and aimed for his throat.

And to think Emma told them all to take it easy on the poor woman.

Only a quick roll saved his throat, and his ability to verbally express himself. Some Banshee he would've made without a voice box. The blade dug into his shoulder a scant two inches. It would have gone deeper, but Charlotte came to her senses quickly enough and pulled back before that could happen. It still hurt like the very devil.

Emma patched him up none too gently, Charlotte disappearing right after the incident. The White Queen informed him the woman was in her cottage, but no one checked. It was probably the look on her face when she was swinging that knife that kept everyone away. It was disturbing at the very least. He'd seen that look on cornered animals. A mixture of extreme terror and desperation, ready to commit whatever act it took to get out of there. It wasn't a good combination.

A knock at the door interrupted his brief mental wanderings. "Hello?"

Just what he needed. The perpetrator returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak. He glared at the door for a moment before answering. "Was there something else ye forgot, Charlotte? Another part of me that needs spearin'?"

"I just wanted to see how you're doing. I brought a peace offering." The door opened and a hand slipped in holding a bottle.

He couldn't read the name, but he recognized the label. The finest Irish whisky available. A sign of good taste he could appreciate, but he wasn't forgiving her anytime soon. "If yer wantin' the truth, it's hard ta do much of anything with this bandage on."

Now her head peeked around the door. "I'm so sorry, Sean, I really am."

Could she look any more guilty and embarrassed? He thought she could. "Emma's confined me ta bed, ye know."

"I never meant to hurt anyone." She stepped inside the room, looking like a student sent to the principal's office.

Just how did one go about punishing a woman three centuries old that didn't hardly look old enough to buy that lovely looking bottle of whisky? "A nice gesture, Charlotte, but I don't drink, not anymore."

Her face grew even more guilty looking. She hid the bottle behind her back. "Then please accept my apologies, again."

He could be a little more understanding, instead of feeling like he was kicking a puppy away when all it was trying to do was make friends. The saints help Logan if she looked at him like that with those eyes. "I know yer sorry, Charlotte, I'm just bein' irritable. I can't even shave me own face."

"Don't you have an electric shaver?"

"Nae, they don't really do the job." He rubbed his chin again. "I hate bein' sa scruffy."

She lost the puppy look, finally latching onto something useful she could do. "If you like," she began slowly, "I could shave you."

"I've already been your pincushion this week, I don't need m' skin separated from me body as well."

His unthinking grumble drained all the color from her face, then she flushed dark red as though he'd struck her. "You have a valid point," she said softly, turning to leave.

Sean sighed. It really wasn't her fault, but it hurt! It would take awhile to heal, and until then he was stuck trying to get along with one hand. "Wait, Charlotte," he called after her. "I'd be grateful if ye could help me." The words nearly strangled in his throat. Was he crazy?

"Your sacrifice is duly noted, Sean," she said quietly from the other side of the open door. "You have no need to prove yourself further."

"Please," he said before he could bite back the word. He was certifiable. Any moment, they were coming to take him away.

"I have had experience shaving a man's face," Charlotte told him, moving back into the room. "I used to shave my husband's face nearly everyday."

"Logan can regrow his own skin," Sean grumbled. "I have no such power."

"Not Logan. Raven. If you'll sit in this chair?" She gestured to a straight back chair as she went into the bathroom for a towel. "I could shave him faster than he could do it himself."

"Wonder how he died," Sean muttered as he maneuvered himself from the bed to the chair.

"Old age," Charlotte answered as she emerged from the bathroom, towel and a can of shaving gel in hand. "Not at the point of a knife."

Sean flushed at getting caught. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." She settled the towel around his shoulders to cover his injury. "You really shouldn't sneak up on a person."

"That was the point of the exercise, to be prepared."

"I have to work on that, I know. I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry, Sean." Charlotte worked the shaving gel she'd found in the bathroom to a thin lather, then used her hands to carefully smooth it on his cheeks and neck.

"Why don't we forget it, then?" Then he moved and the injured spot stretched. Sure, forget it when he'd have a scar for the rest of his life? Well, one in many scars. Why was he so hung up on this one incident?

She chuckled a little. "Jubilee has already been on the phone to tell Logan. I'm not sure if he's commiserating with you, or laughing."

"Wolverine's laughin' at me." He closed his eyes. It had been a very long time since a woman had touched him like this. Her touch was light and tender, far more gentle than Emma's had been cleaning and bandaging his wound.

Charlotte finished with the lather, then wiped her hands on the towel. She took so long, Sean opened his eyes to see what kept her, just in time to watch her take a knife out of her boot.

"I have a perfectly good razor," he hastened to say as she carefully examined the edge of the blade. "It works just fine."

"This is sharper," she answered, finally satisfied with it. "Trust me, Sean. I haven't accidently cut a throat in years." She moved behind him, turning his head to an angle to begin.

"That's nae a comfort. What about on purpose?" Her arms around his neck suddenly felt threatening as he eyed the same knife that she'd used before.

She sighed. "I promise, no blood. Would you like to see a demonstration?"

"A demonstration? How?"

Charlotte ran the tips of her fingers over his cheek, then coated the inside of her left arm with lather. "You are in no danger, Sean." She slid the blade along her arm, inches from his eyes, scraping off the gel, then plucked a long strand of hair and let it fall on the blade. Sean watched it slice easily in two. "All right?"

He sighed in resignation. "Aye, go 'head. Me life in yer hands."

With a smile, Charlotte tilted his head to the side again and gently plied the knife to his beard stubble. "Don't move now." After the first pass, she wiped the blade on his towel covered shoulder. "Very good. I won't cut you, but you have to help me out here. Relax a little."

"May I ask a question?" He closed his eyes and put himself in the hands of God. His head leaned back under her direction, resting against her body. Relax? With that blade right up against his face?

She stopped. "Yes?"

"Why here?"

"What?"

"Why come here?"

She didn't answer him. He began to think she wouldn't answer him at all.

"I didn't mean to pry."

"Of course you did," she said quietly. "I'm hoping I'm not too old to learn from my mistakes."

"Sabretooth?"

"Yes." Her hands tightened, then immediately loosened forcibly. "I suppose you could say I'm attempting to learn how not to be so idiotic in the future." She resumed her ministrations. "If I can't do it, I might as well go home and stay there."

He looked up into the face above his, the golden eyes fixed on his cheek as she carefully removed a bit of lather. "That's not the answer, Charlotte, an' ye know it." It wasn't unpleasant, he thought, being shaved by another person. She handled the knife quite well, her movements sure and precise.

Twenty minutes later, she stopped scraping and used her fingers to check for any places she'd missed, deftly removing stray whiskers. After wiping his face clean with the towel, she returned the items to the bathroom as he settled back on his bed.

"If there's anything else I can do for you," she told him, "please let me know."

Sean ran his hand over his face. He hadn't had such a close shave in years. It felt good. "Nothing, thank ye."

Charlotte nodded and headed for the door, taking the bottle of whisky with her. He was almost sorry to see it go.

He was going to have to get a personal shave more often, he thought to himself. Not only did it feel good, he liked the personal attention. Next time, though, it was not going to be done by a semi-stable woman wielding a sharp knife.

A dark head poked its way around the door. "Hey Sean, you survived!?"

"Aye, Jubilee, I did. Go report that to Wolverine, if ye like."

"Just checking. Gambit lost the betting pool. He was giving odds she'd draw blood on Ange first, 'cause of his mouth."

"Gambit would bet on anything," Sean grumbled. "Who won?"

"I think Beast did. I'll have to double check."

"Why don't ye go double check your homework, Jubilee."

~An excellent idea,~ Emma interrupted telepathically.

She grinned at him again and disappeared. He could hear her dashing down the hall to spread the news. Within the next five minutes everyone would know he'd made it through this last encounter.

~Were ye listenin' in on us, Em?~ he asked.

~Only long enough to determine whether or not I would need a new headmaster for my school,~ she answered. ~A good headmaster with your qualifications would be hard to find.~

~Thanks, Em. Didn't know ye cared s' much.~

Emma ignored the comment. ~And Sean? Very good work with Charlotte.~

~I didn't get myself skewered on purpose.~

~However it happened, she's made some real progress today. Do you realize you're the first man she's voluntarily touched since she returned, aside from Logan? This is very good. You should be injured more often.~

Sean hit the pillow behind his head, then bit his lip against a groan when the wound made itself felt. It really did hurt, not that Emma cared at the moment. She got what she wanted, a student who finally made it beyond her own self-imposed boundary.

Couldn't Charlotte's breakthrough have happened any other way?



All references to characters belonging to the X-Men Universe are (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, duplication or distribution of these materials in any form is expressly prohibited. No money is being made from this archive. All images are also (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities; they are not mine. This website, its operators and any content used on this site relating to the X-Men are not authorized by Marvel, Fox, etc. I am not, nor do I claim to be affiliated with any of these entities in any way.