Nothing is True. Everything is Connected.
Tag: <span>Afternoon Fic</span>

Afternoon Fic: Cherik AU (Part 6)

 

Note: There maybe at times, inconsistencies with previous parts – this would be because I’m writing this as I go … and then edit and adjust things down the road.  Once it’s done, edited and reposted all of it will come together.

***

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

***

“Erik No!”

Charles had only stepped outside the room, for thirty minutes.

The Head Nurse had assured him, that she would make sure Erik was ready to leave.  She adored Erik, and had practically adopted him these last few days.  She was always gentle with him, helped him sit up, showed him how to hold his chest while he coughed.  Had talked him through his breathing fits.

And after the one time she talked him out of a nightmare, ignoring the shaking metal railings. He had been tempted to kidnap her.

Charles had gone to the Administration Offices, to make sure he had everything they needed for Erik to be discharged, and pay his bill.  He had discovered that despite everything that was being said about Cuba, their health system was slowly developing into one much like the one he had seen while at Oxford.

Instead of a bill, he had been handed over a packet of material for Erik’s rehabilitation:  restrictions, breathing exercises, physical therapy, medications, treatment for the surgical incision, and a half dozen other important documents.

After picking up a bag full of medications, extra bandages and supplies he made his way back to the room.  Azazael was due to arrive in the next few moments.  The plan was for the teleporter to take Erik first, into the waiting arms of Hank.  Charles would make sure the staff thought they had helped Erik out to the front to a cab, before he was ‘zapped’ home.

He was looking forward to going home.

He wasn’t looking forward to what was waiting for him.

Despite the stress and panic he felt every time Erik gasped for a breath, the past five days had been pleasantly calm.  The two were content in their silence.

Charles was sure they would be back to bickering soon enough, and it would seem Erik wasn’t going to wait until they got back to New York.

“Where is Ester?”   He stalked into the room glaring at the sitting up patient, who wasn’t supposed to be sitting up without help.  “You were supposed to wait for me!”

“She went to get me a wheelchair.”  Erik glared, breathing hard hand clutching at his chest.  Just sitting up, and moving his legs over the edge of the bed had worn him out.  “I refused to be carried by Azazael like a bride on her wedding night back to the manor.”

“You make a lovely bride.”  The teleporter gave his burgeoning friend a smirk.   He had popped in and out over the past few days, enjoying startling Charles and snarking off at Erik.

Erik glanced over at Charles a slight smirk on his face.  “Charles prefers me in blue.”

He stared at the two of them, with a confused expression.  Until he felt Erik push an image of himself, in a blue dress with fishnet stalkings ….  “She told you!?”  Charles blushed, and then laughed lightly as he ducked his head.

“I always thought maroon was more my color.”  Erik chuckled only to cough.  “Okay let’s do this.”

He stood on shaky legs, hand gripping the hospital bed.  He bit back the groan, from the pain that shot through his whole body.  ‘Suck it up Erik, you’ve had worse.’

<<You don’t have to be strong all the time.>>

<<I can’t be weak.>>

Charles touched his cheek.  <<You’re the strongest person I know.>>

Erik reached out, taking Charles’ hand gripping it tightly.  <<Don’t let go.>>

“Never.”  He helped him move away from the bed, and closer to the teleporter.

Azazael wrapped his left arm around Erik, stepping closer to him.  He then took his right hand, into his own, the tail wrapped around his shoulder tapping Erik on the shoulder.

“Well I always knew I would end up dancing with the devil.”  He leaned into the taller mutant.

“You would take over hell, my friend.”  Azazael glanced over to Charles.  “I’ll be back in a few moments, so be prepared.

Charles nodded, stepping back almost everything he had was packed and ready to go. He just needed to shove all the paperwork and bag of meds into the duffle.

“Oh this is going … ”

And they were gone.

Afternoon Fic: Cherik AU (Part 5)

Note: I have an idea of where I’m going with this but no idea how I’m getting there 🙂

***

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

***

Erik was resting once again.

The doctor had removed the respirator  from his throat, Charles was thankful it was made of plastic, or the situation would have gone a lot worse, than the side rail of the bed being bent.  They made sure he had plenty of oxygen, checked the incision to make sure it was healing and no infections were settling in.

The doctor informed him, that Erik would need weeks to months of recovery.

His lungs were weak and would need to build back up to normal capacity.  He would need to be careful in the future of infections.  A simple chest cold could set him back in recovery.  At the moment simple movement would cause loss of breath, and he would need to take things slowly.

The chest muscles would take time to heal, and Erik would need help with sitting up until the muscles strengthened.

Charles had kept a straight face, taking in all the information and pulling more from the doctor’s mind.  What worried him was the fact, Erik had eight staples in his chest muscles, and about two feet of wire wrapped around his sternum.

This wasn’t going to end well, he could feel it.

He had asked when it was possible for him to take Erik home.  The doctor gave him a look, as if Charles was insane, though he was pretty sure he was.  He was told under no circumstances was Erik to leave the hospital for another five days, and would need care afterwards.  Again re-iterating everything he had already told Charles.  Adding in the history of conducting open heart surgery and the fact that Erik was alive was a miracle and not push his recovery.

Charles calmed him down by explaining he had a place quiet away from everything where Erik could recover, plus a doctor on staff.  It was only then the doctor agreed he could leave the hospital in five days.

What Charles didn’t mention was that his place was in New York, and they would be using a teleporter mutant to get home.  He figured it would be painful and uncomfortable for Erik but only a few short minutes compared to a plane ride.

And the way the news was going on about sanctions against Cuba he wasn’t even sure he would be able to get out of the country.  Considering he had no passport, documents or proof of who they were.

Last thing he wanted to do was alert the CIA to where they were.  He had a feeling the only reason he hadn’t had the ‘Men in Black’ in Erik’s hospital room was Azazael hadn’t told anyone where they were at, and was watching Moira.

A selfish part of him wanted to find a place in Cuba and hide Erik away from everything.  Including the rants Charles was going to hear from Raven, and Hank’s ‘I don’t approve stare’.

Erik was meant to be by his side, as he was meant to by his.

When he would even take a moment to think of the two of them separated dread filled him, not just for himself but for the world.

“When can I leave?”

It was still disconcerting to hear such a soft quiet tone from Erik.  The man was blunt, forceful, cold, serious, not quiet or weak.  Charles glanced at the bed, watching Erik watch him.  He hadn’t mentioned the fact Charles hadn’t let go of his hand, and the few times he had tried to pull it away, Erik had held tighter.

“A few more days.”  He shifted until he was leaning against the bed.  “They want to make sure you are more stable, and no infecitons.”

He took a few short breathes, struggling to cough.  Charles grabbed a small cup from the table … the second one they’ve had, he won’t mention what happened to the first after Erik woke up from a particular nasty nightmare … he helped him sit up and put some of the ice chips into his mouth.

“What is in my chest?”

Charles tried to bluff his way around it, but the mutant’s eyes narrowed, and the fifth pen ended up embedded into the wall.  Erik closed his eyes as pain shot through him, he gasped for air forcing Charles to shove the oxygen mask back onto his face.  <<Calm your mind.>>

<<I was shot you asshole.>>

Charles bit back the smirk, last thing he wanted to do was encourage Erik’s bad behavior.  He already knew it was going to be hell on earth, during his recovery.

<<Steady breathes.  Relax your chest.  Don’t tense.>>

<<I hate you so much.>>

But he followed Charles’ instructions, slowly calming down as he breathing regulated.  “I feel the metal Charles.”

“You have staples holding the muscles together, and a wire sealing up the bone.”

“I want them out.”

“They are holding your chest together!”  He would not back down on this.  He wasn’t the one who sat outside, watching as doctors worked to save his life.  “The staples can be removed in six weeks.  Hank can do the surgery.”  Charles ignored Erik’s snort.  “The wires … it would be best if you limited using your powers until you’re fully healed.”

“So if Hank is doing this surgery when do we go home? If I’m still welcome.”

Charles knew his expression softened at the word ‘home’.  He probably had a sappy look on his face, if Erik’s roll of the eyes was any indication.

“In five days Erik, we will go home.  Where you will do everything the doctor says.  You will not push your limits.  You will rest.  You will ask for help.  You will listen to me!”

Afternoon Fic: Cherik AU (Part 4)

Wakes up from nap just enough to post …

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

***

The metal vibrations alerted him that Erik was waking up.

He had been by his side for twenty-four hours, and only budged to find a shower and change, Azazael having popped in again with some clothes, necessities, and cash.  He in turn had sent a list of medical supplies that would be needed for Erik’s recovering and told him to give it to Hank to prep a room.

Charles stood, still holding Erik’s hand as he leaned over him.  “Erik I need you to calm your mind.  You’re safe.  Where ever you think you are, it’s an illusion.  Follow my voice.”  He felt the grip on his hand tighten.  “Come on Erik you can do this, I need you to stay calm … focus on my voice.”

He barely flinched when the pen on the chart embedded itself in the wall, as the metal clipboard began to crumble.

“Erik!”

Charles startled when he was pulled into Erik’s mind.

He looked around trying to gauge where he was, the rain was heaving down making it difficult to see.  He flipped the hair out of his eyes, and stared up at the iron gates and the hordes of people being shoved through it.

He heard a boy scream for his mother.

Watched as the metal gate began to bend to his will.

In a blink he was dry and in an office, startled to see Shaw looking the exact age as when they faced him down only a few days ago.   He studied the young boy, terrified of what was happening around him.

This was the moment.

The one that set Erik on his path, the one that would lead him to Charles  … to Cuba … to recovering from a gunshot wound.

A part of him was awed by Erik’s raw power as he destroyed the office and lab, inadvertently killing the German guards.

Watching Shaw put his arm around young Erik, laughing as he dropped the coin at his feet … made him wonder why he wanted to take Shaw alive.

The man was truly a monster.

The next scene made him heave, even if the scene before him was only in his head.  He logically knew what happened in the camps, read about the atrocities.  He had even seen glimpses of these moments in Erik when they first met and during their recruiting trip.

But to see it fully.

The experiments.

Torture.

‘What are you doing here?’

He turned to see Erik has he knows him standing in the corner, looking between his younger self being electrocuted and Charles.

‘You pulled me in, you need to wake up.’  He reached out to him, wanting to move him away from the scene.

‘I pulled you into one of my nightmares?’  Erik looked frustrated, as he ran a hand over his face.  ‘I am sorry for that, no one should see these.’

‘No one should have lived them.’  Charles whispered softly.

‘I don’t need your pity, Charles.’  The voice became stern.

He could feel the anger brewing. ‘Calm your mind Erik.  You’re causing damage outside …’

‘That’s why I asked for a room away from the others.’  He took a deep breath, hands clenching and unclenching by his side.

‘We’re not at the manor.’  He finally got close enough to touch, fingers softly caressing Erik’s arm.

‘Where the hell are we?!’

The scene changed in moments going from cold sterile operation room, to the beach in Cuba.  Erik looked around, then back at Charles to see him in the black and yellow uniform.

‘It’s beautiful when not being shot at.’

‘What do you remember?’  Charles asked, noticing that Erik was projecting his image without the helmet, not that it would work.  He was already in his head.

‘Shaw’s death.  Humans trying to kill us.  One succeeding.’

‘You’re not dead my friend.’  He reached out and laid a hand on his chest.  ‘You’ll recover I’ll be there each step of the way.’

‘I might as well be.’  He shrugged.  ‘You won’t forgive me for killing Shaw.’

‘I…’  Charles hesitated only for a moment.  ‘I am a pacifist by nature.  I don’t believe in violence. I believe that one day we can all live in this world together.’

‘Naïve idealism.’  Erik smiled at him. ‘But it’s what makes you … you.  I wouldn’t change that, but I do wish you would see that the world isn’t ready for it.’

‘Nor does it need another revolutionary.  It’s seen enough death and destruction.’  He pointed out in earnest.

‘Then we find ourselves at a standstill.’  He glanced out towards the water.  ‘Maybe you should just let me go.  Maybe I can finally find that peace that has eluded me all these years.’

‘I cannot survive this without you, my friend.’  Charles reached out and cupped his cheek, making Erik focus on him.  ‘We’re not a standstill, we’re at a cusp.  Neither of us is right nor wrong.  We’re better together.’

‘You teach, while I fight.’

‘The point I’m making Erik is we do it together.’  He ran a thumb across his cheek.  ‘It’s time to wake up.’

Charles blinked.

He looked down to see Erik’s eyes were open, staring up at him.  He smiled softly, running his thumb over his cheek.  “Welcome back.”

Afternoon Fic: Cherik AU (Part 3)

Part One

Part Two

***

A few hours later he found himself sitting next to Erik’s bed, holding his hand.  He ignored the machines around him.  The sound of the ECG Machine was background noise, telling him Erik’s heart was beating.

The scar was long and ugly down the middle of his friend’s chest, the stitches dark against the pale skin, a few pieces of thread that was holding his chest together.   Charles took a calming breath, swearing to himself that he would make sure Erik had the best care.

“You will need to keep him calm when he wakes.”

Charles jumped out of the chair, tripping into the bed, before turning around and glaring at the intruder.

Azazael gave him a smirk.  “I couldn’t sneak up on Emma.”

“Well I am a bit distracted.” Charles forced himself to calm down, and not lash out at the mutant.  “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on you two.”  He stepped closer to Erik, giving him a critical eye before focusing back on Charles.  “He is recovering?”

“They are worried about infection.”  Charles sat back down, taking Erik’s hand again, not caring about the look he was getting.  “One lung is damaged, the other collapsed under the pressure.  They lost him once, but …”

“Stubborn asshole.”

“It’s like you know him.”  Charles snorted softly.

“A man who hunts for twenty years to find the bastard who killed his mother.”  Azazael walked around the room.  “Stubborn is only the beginning.”

He looked down, not ready to talk about Shaw.

“I will have to thank him for killing the bastard.”  He continued watching his fellow mutant.  “My people can rest easily.”

Charles’ head snapped up, a frown on his face.

“You think we followed him because we loved him.”  His chuckle was rich and dark.  “Some aspects we agreed.  My mutation can’t be hidden, hence I normally stay on my island with my fellow teleporters …”

“You don’t think in time the humans would accept you?”  Charles had always thought Raven was beautiful in her natural form, but then she had the ability to hide, Azazael didn’t.

Azazael shook his head.  “They don’t let black people drink from the same fountain as whites in your country.  What do you think?”  He whipped his tail around, giving him a pointed look.  “As far as good humans think, I’m the devil.”

“But in time they can be …”

“Look at his arm.”  He pointed at the hand Charles was holding.  “I know what those numbers are.  They represent what humans will do to those who are different.”

His fingers ran across the inked numbers.

“Shaw did that, and worse.”  Azazael shrugged.  “He bragged about Erik.  The monster he created.  How he loved him.  The anger.  The hatred.  But he forgot that the story ended when the monster killed the doctor.”

“There was another way, he didn’t have to kill him.”  He stubbornly held his point.

“He will wake up disoriented and likely flash back to his time with Shaw.”  The teleporter looked around the room, eyes laying on everything that was metal.  “Be ready to calm him down.  Do you have a message for your sister?  They demanded information.”

“Are they okay?”

“I took them to your home.”  He smirked, laughing lightly to himself.  “The blue furred one, kept growling.”

“Hank!  You didn’t hurt them…”

“No.  Your sister is one to reckon with.”

“Raven can be very protective.”

“Bites too.”  Azazael smiled showing all his teeth.  “Shall I tell them, you are waiting by your lover’s side.”

“We’re not …”  The red mutant rolled his eyes.  “Tell Hank to prep for us to return, Erik will need full time care, and well I guess I’m going to have to deal with the CIA.”

“The ones who fired weapons at us?”

“They were scared …”

“Yet you think they will accept someone like me or your sister?”  Azazael’s smirk was downright vicious.  He turned towards Erik, tilting his head slightly.  “He did the right thing.”

“He was going to kill innocents.”

“And what do you think would have happened to all the civilians on this island?”

And with that last statement he teleported out of the room, leaving Charles alone with his thoughts.

Afternoon Fic: Cherik AU (Part Two)

Quick Note:

Yes you’ll get these updates sporadically – like I had stated in the first post these fics are palette cleansers when dealing with Sylum related materials.

This particular AU is from X-Men: First Class … Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier.  I’m not that involved in X-Men fandom so this could be interesting …. blame Speed.

<< >> denotes telepathic speech

Part One

***

Charles sat in the clean waiting room, waiting.   They had wheeled Erik away, and every instinct had him wanting to follow, but he was getting looks from other staff.  His ‘uniform’ was covered in blood and sand, and he looked wild.  He forced himself to calm down, then gently tapped his forehead to calm those around him.

With deliberate ease he stole a pair of scrubs, trashed the uniform into a hazmat bin, and worked his way back to the lobby, where he was directly pointed to the surgery waiting area.  It would seem he was startling the other patients.

After an hour of nothing but tired platitudes from the staff, he wandered around.  With his shields firmly in place, he explored the modern facility.  It had taken him sadly a while to figure out he was actually in Havana.  Azazel had got him to the closest hospital, and really at this moment he couldn’t have been happier.

‘My cousin said they were so scared.’  A voice snuck through his shields, as he passed by the nurses station.  He worked to ignore it, but something told him to pause.  ‘All those warships.  He was sure death was coming to their door.’

‘They are gone now.’  A second voice entered into the conversation.  ‘But tension has risen once again.  We are not their battle ground.’

‘Yet they sent bombs to our beaches!’  A third entered the conversation.  ‘I saw it.  Then they turned around and …’

“Code Blue!”  A yell went down the hall.  “Code Blue in OR Room 3!”

Charles looked down the hallway as nurses, ran for the operating room.   He knew without a doubt that was where Erik was located.

<<Don’t leave me.>>  He stood in the hallway, his focus and attention fully on the only thing that mattered.  <<Erik hold on!  Don’t you dare leave me now, you son of a bitch!>>

One of the older nurses made her way down the hall, stopping in front of Charles.  “Come sit down, can we get you anything?”

“Is he alive?”  He asked, letting her sit him down, his focus still on Erik.

“He coded on the table, they couldn’t find the bullet…”  She gasped.

Charles looked down at his open palm, where the bullet laid.  “You don’t know what he means to the world … to me.”

She sat next to him, folded his hand around the bullet, and held it in between hers.  “He’s got a guardian angel watching over him…”

Charles chuckled humorlessly.  “Well they’ve done a piss all job haven’t they.”  He pulled his hand from hers, gave her a halfhearted smile as she walked left him there.

He startled awake when a hand rested on his shoulder.  He stood quickly when he saw the doctor leaning over him.  “How is he?”

“He’s in recovery.”  He gave him a reassuring smile.  “We lost him for a moment, but were able to get him back.  We were able to repair the damage to his lung, but it’s going to be a long recovery.   We’ll have to watch for infections, and he’ll have a weakened lung, but if all goes well…”

“Can I see him?”  Charles demanded.

“When we settle him into a room, you can visit …”  The doctor hesitated, motioning for Charles to sit back down, while taking the seat next to him.  “I was concerned of the scars that he already has.  Do you know any of his medical history, that we should be aware of … the next 48 hours will be crucial to his recovery.”

“He’s a survivor of the camps.”  He closed his eyes, as flashes of Erik’s memory broke through the fog he’d been in for the past … he looked around until he saw clock.  Twelve hours.  They had taken down Shaw twelve hours ago, and it felt like a lifetime ago.

<<Holy Mother of God.>>

Charles glanced over to the Doctor, who had paled tremendously as he crossed himself.

<<Holy Mother I ask you to intercede with your son to heal this young man … >>

“He’s Jewish.”

The Doctor titled his head slightly, but didn’t seem upset or fazed.  “I will send for a Rabbi, in case.”

“He survived the camps, doctor.  He’s too damn stubborn to die at the hands of humans.”  Charles gripped the bullet in his palm, feeling the sharp edges push against his skin.  “But I thank you for your prayers and more importantly your skills.”

“I’ll make sure the staff knows his history.”  He stood only to pause and glance down at Charles.  “There was an incident in the surgery room.  The trays, tools, anything metal started shanking, right before he coded.”

Charles gave him a soft smile, as his fingers touched his forehead.

The doctor blinked, shaking his head slightly.  “A nurse will come to get you, once he’s settled in his room.”  He turned and walked away, not quite sure what had just happened.

He leaned back in the uncomfortable seat, ignoring the tears that streaked down his cheek.

Afternoon Fic

Some of you may know of my Afternoon Fic’s that I post on my tumblr.

The final products have always been posted in the General’s Office.

Because of recent entitled twats, who felt they were wanted to cause drama – I’m no longer posting my Afternoon Fics to Tumblr.

Lucky You! I’ll be posting them here.

Now how does this work??

One: These are not Sylum related stories – these are my palete cleansers when I just can’t deal with Nico and his damn children … or Ernesto … or John … you get the meaning.

Two: The stories are not edited, they are raw form.  Once finished and edited they’ll be posted in The General’s Office.

Three:  There will be days you won’t see anything, but I will always come back and finish it.

Four: During Sylum Events there will be no Afternoon Fics

Five: Enjoy

***

And now for the new Afternoon Fic … I’m working on.  Though I can’t actually believe I’m writing in the X-Men fandom … I blame Speed completely!

Oh do I need to mention that this is AU *smirks*

He needed to protect his fellow Mutants. Charles didn’t see that, the Humans needed to learn that Mutants couldn’t just be eradicated. They were like children, who stomped on the bug because it was ugly and scared them.

He easily turned the missiles around, and just as he started to send, he was tackled to the ground.

Damn it Charles!

He didn’t want to hurt him, but this had to be done.

Why didn’t he understand!

Taking power back over the last missiles, he concentrated on what had to be done.

The first bullet caught him unawares.

Really!

The second one he deflected.

With a snarl, he turned to see the Moira, the CIA Agent shooting at him.

Really?!

Did she miss the part where he was holding a dozen or so metal missiles with his powers, and shooting at him was a stupid idea!

He heard a groan behind him.

Charles!

She was still shooting at him, with Charles nearby.

Erik dropped the missiles into the water, and focused on the real threat. She was taking pot shots, barely aiming, just shooting at his vicinity. Charles was in danger because of her recklessness.

Time slowed down as each bullet, raced towards him.

He lifted his hand to deflect with ease, only to realize it was already on the path to hit Charles. Without thought he moved …

He should have felt the pain on impact, but he couldn’t.

Shaw had stolen that from him, right along with pleasure.

“ERIK!”

He felt Charles’ arms move around him, as he fell towards the sandy beach. He blinked, trying to take a breath, to tell him that it was okay – he was safe now.

“Erik, just stay calm.” Charles moved his hand over the uniform, trying to pull it apart to get to the wound. He couldn’t lose him, not like this. With a yell he pulled off the damn helmet and tossed it as far as he could. <<Erik listen to me.>>

<<Safe. Charles. Safe.>>

“Oh God. No.” He saw it with ease, Erik stepped into the shot to protect him. <<Stay with me.>>

“Protect them.” Blood spilled from his mouth, he tried to wipe it but Charles held his hand. “All of them…”

“NO! You will not leave me!” He gripped the back of his neck and made Erik look at him. “I refuse to let you go.”

Erik suddenly cried out in pain, scaring Charles even more. He looked down to see the bullet in Erik’s hand. <<Oh dear…>>

“Charles get away from him, he’s dangerous.”

His head snapped up, mind roaring with anger and desperation. “You did this!” He yelled, his gaze was like steal as he mentally shoved her away, wrapping the dogtags around her neck and squeezed.

<<Charles…>>

“Charles!” Raven ran towards the fallen agent. “Stop it Charles you’re killing her!”

<<Charles…>>

He focused back on Erik, letting her go, not caring that she dropped the ground gasping for air. <<Erik.>>

<<Promise me you’ll take care of them.>>

“Not without you, my friend. We want the same thing. I can’t do this without you.” He cupped his face, wiping away the blood.

<<Liebling.>>

“I will not lose you.” Charles was desperate to do anything to save him. He wondered if his own powers could be used to heal if he wanted it bad enough.

“Hold on.”

Charles looked up startled to see one of Shaw’s men standing over him. Azazael was menacing looking in all the wrong ways.

“Hold on to me.” He held out his hand, towards Charles. “Hold on to him. I take you to doctor.”

Charles reached out and took it, in a flash they were no longer on a beach but instead in the lobby of a hospital.

“HELP! I need Help!”

Doctors and nurses came rushing towards him instantly. He looked up to thank him, but Azazael was already gone.

“He was shot in the chest, still breathing.” Charles informed the doctor as they lifted Erik onto the gurney. “Save him.”

“We’ll do our best…”

He lifted his blood stained fingers to his temple. <<Save him.>>