{"id":9085,"date":"2017-10-04T15:31:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T22:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/?p=9085"},"modified":"2017-10-04T15:31:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T22:31:10","slug":"afternoon-fic-cherik-au-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-cherik-au-part-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Afternoon Fic: Cherik AU (Part 8)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Part One<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Three<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Four<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Five<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Six<\/a><\/p>\n

Part Seven<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Charles never felt so exhausted in his life.<\/p>\n

Erik was resting, finally.\u00a0 He had made sure the pillows were fluffed and there were enough to keep the older man sitting up, yet comfortable enough to sleep.\u00a0 The oxygen mask was resting against his chest at the moment, in case it was needed.<\/p>\n

Erik’s breathing was labored, but at the moment calm.<\/p>\n

Charles sighed as he moved off the bed, and made his way to the en-suite bathroom.\u00a0 He looked at the mirror, and cringed.\u00a0 He looked like he had aged ten years in the past week, with the rate things were going he would be bald by the time he was forty.<\/p>\n

He splashed some water on his face, took a few more calming breathes of his own, before making his way back into the bedroom.<\/p>\n

Hank was standing just inside the bedroom door.<\/p>\n

Charles gave him a warm smile, as he made his way to the dropped bags.<\/p>\n

Seeing Erik in so much pain seconds after leaving the hospital had terrified him.\u00a0 Realizing why he was pissed and hurting, had angered him.\u00a0 He knew that coming back to New York, and dealing with everyone wasn’t going to be easy.\u00a0 But he hadn’t figured it would explode seconds they returned, he had hoped for a few hours at least.<\/p>\n

“How’s he doing?”\u00a0 Hank asked voice soft and low.<\/p>\n

“Asleep.”\u00a0 Charles glanced back at Erik, he couldn’t help the small smile.\u00a0 “They gave him a sedative before he was discharged, lucky it’s kicking in now.\u00a0 He’ll need food, meds, and probably another shot in a few hours.”<\/p>\n

He dug through the duffle bag and pulled out the bag of medications and wad of instructions and handed them over to Hank.\u00a0 “We’ll need to get some of these prescriptions refilled.”\u00a0 Charles paused.\u00a0 “Any means necessary.”<\/p>\n

One of Hank’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t say anything.\u00a0 He continued reading the chart and paperwork.\u00a0 “He’s got metal in his chest?”\u00a0 He looked up shocked, eyes wide.\u00a0 “That’s not going to end well.”<\/p>\n

“Nope.”\u00a0 He agreed humorlessly.\u00a0 “When he uses his powers it pulls on the staples and wire.”<\/p>\n

“Yeah so seeing the person who shot you five seconds into recovery didn’t go well.”\u00a0 Hank kept looking through paperwork.\u00a0 “We’ve got some nice areas in the garden that would help with the exercises.\u00a0 Doubt he’ll be up to his five mile morning runs, but a walk to the balcony could be good.”<\/p>\n

“Give me the rundown of what’s going on.” Charles sat down on one of the chairs, waving a hand at Hank.\u00a0 “Don’t sugar coat it.”<\/p>\n

Hank dropped his hands and looked at his friend.\u00a0 “What bad news would you like first?”<\/p>\n

“The one that won’t make me screech.”\u00a0 He sighed falling further into the chair exhausted.<\/p>\n

“Well everyone knows you two are lovers.”\u00a0 Hank shrugged, figured that was the less troublesome.\u00a0 “Alex’s taking to calling you two mom and dad.”<\/p>\n

Charles’ snorted. “I’m going to take a while guess here, and say I’m mom.”<\/p>\n

Hank didn’t have to answer that question.\u00a0 “Raven is livid I’m not quite sure exactly what’s pissing her off, but I’m guessing all of the above.”<\/p>\n

Charles didn’t want to know what A through D were exactly, but he was sure he was going to find out in about an hour.<\/p>\n

Unless he could hide in Erik’s room for the next ten years.<\/p>\n

“Everyone’s leery of Angel, which is understandable.\u00a0 Azazael has seemed to settle, but isn’t here often.\u00a0 Janus stays close to Angel, but I have to admit he’s helped out around here, including going for food and doing odd things.\u00a0 He seems to try to fit in, yet not.”<\/p>\n

He waved his hand for Hank to continue when he paused, he knew what was coming next.<\/p>\n

“Moira isn’t happy.\u00a0 She’s feeling part prisoner other part warden.\u00a0 Alex and Sean have been cool towards her, but nothing outright.\u00a0 I’m not sure what to do about any of it truthfully.”<\/p>\n

“And you?”\u00a0 He asked gazing intently at his friend.\u00a0 The fact Hank was still with fur, meant he was working something out for himself or at least hadn’t had time to figure out how to get the ‘beast’ back under control.<\/p>\n

“I’m not sure.”\u00a0 Hank shrugged.\u00a0 “We did what we set out to do.\u00a0 Shaw’s dead.\u00a0 I’m not sure how, nor do I really want to know.\u00a0 We’ve stopped World War Three, but the US and Russia are eyeing each other like two rabid dogs.\u00a0 Cuba is caught in the middle, and well it’s like nothing happened yet everything has changed.\u00a0 As for Erik, it wasn’t until I just saw him that made me realize how bad that moment was.\u00a0 He took a bullet for you, so I’m grateful, but he wouldn’t have been shot if he hadn’t taken control of the missiles, but if he hadn’t we and Cuba would be ash.”<\/p>\n

“That is a good recap of this fuck up.”<\/p>\n

“Did he intend to kill those soldiers?”\u00a0 He asked quietly, glancing at the bed.<\/p>\n

“No.”\u00a0 Charles sat up, resting his head on his hands.\u00a0 “I saw it in his mind, oh he wanted to, but also knew not to \u2026 saying a soldier was just doing his duty doesn’t work on him considering his past, but he also knew most those soldiers didn’t have a choice in what was going on.\u00a0 In the end I think he wanted to make a point.”<\/p>\n

If the damn helmet hadn’t been on, he would’ve have been able to sense what Erik was up to.<\/p>\n

<<You should’ve trusted me.>><\/p>\n

Charles looked over at the bed to see that Erik was awake, and probably had been through most of the conversation.<\/p>\n

<<You should’ve trusted me!\u00a0 You didn’t the moment you put on that helmet!>><\/p>\n

Erik sighed, shifting slightly on the bed.<\/p>\n

<<Don’t you dare move and pull on your incision you asshole.>><\/p>\n

He snorted.<\/p>\n

<<I didn’t want you stopping me from killing Shaw, and you know you would have if you could, no matter the high ground you take when using your power.>><\/p>\n

Charles’ eyes narrowed.\u00a0 <<It was always your decision.>><\/p>\n

<<Cute you think that.>> He was fully awake, staring directly at Charles.\u00a0 <<That decision was taken from me the moment he shot my mother.>><\/p>\n

<<You could’ve been the better man.>>\u00a0 He argued getting annoyed with himself for having this argument when Erik should be resting.<\/p>\n

<<But I’m not.\u00a0 That’s what you don’t get Charles. \u00a0I’m not.>><\/p>\n

“You are!”\u00a0 He stood up, stalking over to the bed and then onto it.\u00a0 “You are and will always be better than Shaw.\u00a0 You are not the monster you think you are.”<\/p>\n

“I think Hank there would disagree with you.”\u00a0 He motioned towards the other mutant.<\/p>\n

Charles glanced behind him, to see Hank looking between them.\u00a0 His blue paw moved up to scratch at the back of his neck.\u00a0 “I think we are all monsters in our own minds.”<\/p>\n

Both blinked at the younger mutant.\u00a0 “You’re not a monster, Hank.”\u00a0 Charles shifted to move to his friend.<\/p>\n

“I’m not?”\u00a0 He looked down at his body to see a ‘Beast’.<\/p>\n

“No.”\u00a0 Erik added his voice in with Charles.\u00a0 “I know a monster when I see one, and you Hank are far from it.\u00a0 Annoying, yes.\u00a0 But to geeky to be one.”<\/p>\n

Charles glared at him, only to focus back on Hank who was snickering.\u00a0 “You don’t even like me.”<\/p>\n

“No Hank, I don’t like that you don’t like your mutation.”\u00a0 Erik shrugged only to cringe in pain.\u00a0 “I thought the feet were odd, but useful. Still better than the humans.\u00a0 Now you’re amazing, and you hate yourself.”<\/p>\n

Hank growled. “Don’t make me like you.”<\/p>\n

Erik laughed, which led to coughing.\u00a0 Charles moved next to him, supporting him as he worked to breathe, in the end Hank moved and shoved the oxygen mask over his mouth.<\/p>\n

Hank ignored both of them, as he checked Erik’s pulse, not happy that it was high.\u00a0 “You need to rest, and no arguing internally or externally.”\u00a0 He gave a small glare at Charles.\u00a0 “You want to stay in here with him?\u00a0 I can get your stuff from your room.”<\/p>\n

Charles nodded, it would pointless to act like he was going to stay in his own room.\u00a0 “There’s a list of dietary needs, make sure someone gets groceries.”\u00a0 He paused glancing at Erik, he could feel him falling back to sleep.\u00a0 “The food needs to be Kosher.”<\/p>\n

“I’ll send Janus, he’s been really good about shopping.”\u00a0 Hank nodded again, and then moved for the door.\u00a0 “He’s not really a monster.”<\/p>\n

“I know.”<\/p>\n

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m okay with him killing Shaw.”\u00a0 Hank looked down, not wanting to see Charles disapproval.\u00a0 “I couldn’t think of any way to keep him alive without him hurting others.\u00a0 That and he stole Angel and killed Darwin.”<\/p>\n

“She made her own decision.”\u00a0 Charles pointed out, and that was yet<\/em> another thing he had to deal with.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, but we all make mistakes.”\u00a0 He glanced at Erik, gave Charles a shrug then left the room.<\/p>\n

“When did our kids grow up?”\u00a0 Charles wondered out loud.<\/p>\n

“They’re your kids, Charles.”\u00a0 Erik pulled the mask down, giving him a look.<\/p>\n

“Oh no, darling.\u00a0 You helped me find them, they’re ours.”\u00a0 He put the mask back on him, then shifted until he was sitting against the headboard, and pulled Erik close.\u00a0 Only after a moment of hesitation, Erik relaxed and rested his head on Charles’ shoulder, drifting back to sleep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven *** Charles never felt so exhausted in his life. Erik was resting, finally.\u00a0 He had made sure the pillows were fluffed and there were enough to keep the older man sitting up, yet comfortable enough to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[747],"tags":[746,50,572],"class_list":["post-9085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afternoon-fic","tag-afternoon-fic","tag-bj-jones","tag-the-generals-office"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-2mx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13012,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-save-the-mutant-save-the-world-final\/","url_meta":{"origin":9085,"position":0},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Save the Mutant Save the World (Final)","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"January 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Afternoon Fic This is a quick update to let you know that Save the Mutant Save the World has been finalized and uploaded to the Afternoon Fic Page. The next segment of Afternoon Fic is coming soon!","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/maxresdefault-7-800x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/maxresdefault-7-800x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/maxresdefault-7-800x450.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20927,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/the-dragon-general-posted-in-afternoon-fic\/","url_meta":{"origin":9085,"position":1},"title":"The Dragon General – Posted in Afternoon Fic","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"May 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally after\u00a0 ... a while ... got this posted in the Afternoon Fic section of the blog!\u00a0 Go me *sighs* And considering we've just had May the 4th Be With You - figured it was fitting to showcase. PS: Keep an eye out for another story I did that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DragonGeneral.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10674,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/new-afternoon-fic-a-single-shot-by-bj-jones\/","url_meta":{"origin":9085,"position":2},"title":"New Afternoon Fic: A Single Shot by Bj Jones","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"May 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Title: A Single Shot Author: Bj Jones Rating: R Summary: He should have felt the pain on impact, but he couldn't. Shaw had stolen that from him, right along with pleasure. Author's Note: Edited version of the Afternoon Fic *** Link to Fic","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_luzeyn3MTB1r6evzjo3_400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13807,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-next-story-poll\/","url_meta":{"origin":9085,"position":3},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Next Story – Poll","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"April 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So there are few options for the next Afternoon Fic. A) Part Three to the Erik\/Charles AU ... basically story movie three but with the idea that Erik was shot in Cuba instead of Charles, and how it's changed their Universe. B) Erik\/Charles back story from the Dragons AU C)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_afternoonfics.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14392,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-dragon-rescue-now-posted\/","url_meta":{"origin":9085,"position":4},"title":"Afternoon Fic: Dragon Rescue (Now Posted)","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"July 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dragon Rescue part of the Dragon of Interest series. Has been uploaded to The General's Office.","rel":"","context":"In "Afternoon Fic"","block_context":{"text":"Afternoon Fic","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/afternoon-fic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/banner_dragonrescue.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23218,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/afternoon-fic-i-will-carry-you-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9085,"position":5},"title":"Afternoon Fic: I Will Carry You","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"March 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 So I've been working on a Fic outside Sylum to get back into the groove of thins. I've posted the first chapter here on the blog - but instead of doing chapters on the blog - I've been posting to A03. 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