XMFC/Prick us, do we not bleed?

[diecastking]

It has been 107 days since Erik Lensherr last saw sunlight. On a beach in Cuba, when he had come to stop a war and then almost found his army. And lost Charles.

He has been tortured before. Schmitt - Shaw - was an expert in torment and pain. Erik is not afraid of torture.

The first days are almost comical. They come at him with all manner of knives and he laughs at them, wounds them, kills them. It takes them six whole days to realise that metal will never harm him.

Apart from the bullet that pierced his thigh. The wound was allowed to fester, the fever raging, and Erik felt washed out and weakened by his battle against the infection. He prayed hard that he had not told them anything about Charles and the children when he was under fever.

Between bouts of pain, Erik thinks about Charles. He wonders if he's safe, thriving. If he's founded his school and found more mutants. And sometimes, when he's at his weakest, he wonders if Charles ever thinks of him.

Scarred, burned and starved, Erik waits in darkness for respite and for freedom. And hopes never to see Charles Xavier again.

Comments

[guideshapelead]

It has been 107 days since Charles Xavier started training an army. His dream for a school was long gone, dead and buried, alongside the innocence of the children he had once taken in and trained for the greater good.

The inhabitants of the family mansion were a finely tuned mutant army, now, trained to kill any human who stood in their way. Because it was humans who had taken Erik from him. Charles understood, now, what Erik has been trying to show him for so long.

And today, finally, they were ready to march. They'd recruited and trained until no one could possibly stand in their way; it was time to rescue Erik and restore him to his rightful place at Charles' side, heading up the mutant revolution.

Professor X and Magneto would become names feared across the world. A new age would dawn today.

They use Azazel's power to bring them to the doors of the facility holding Erik. Beyond there, Azazel could not take them, not without knowledge of the building's interior. But with the combined powers of his mutant army, blasting down the doors poses little problem.

[diecastking]

Alex leads the incursion force, his energy beams disabling electronics and taking out guards indiscriminately.

The change in the Professor after they left Erik was frightening, at first. But then they focussed on Erik's vision, forming their own fighting force - mutant and proud.

But now that it's come down to finding Erik, Alex's mentor, he's scared of what he might find. What the humans might have done to him.

"Can you feel them?" he asks Charles, unable to help himself. He has to know if he's alive.

[guideshapelead]

Charles has trained as hard as anyone, his powers far greater than they had been the last time he'd been in Erik's presence. Long gone were the days where he had to have his fingers to his temple in concentration; he can feel Erik already, just by being nearby.

"He's here," he answers, gruff and to the point. "But his mind is weak. He's been shielded, somehow."

[diecastking]

Something is happening.

Dimly, through the thick glass walls, Erik can hear an alarm wailing. He hears shouting, gunfire.

And, very faintly, he can feel a presence he thought lost to him: Charles.

The thought brings panic, awakens him from his pain-filled apathy. He must not let them hurt Charles.

Erik pulls against his restraints, hating his weakness and the fresh waves of agony resistance brings. But he continues to struggle, because he cannot let Charles die for him.

[guideshapelead]

Trusting his army to keep their commander protected, Charles closes his eyes as he walks through the corridors, focussing in on Erik's mind, using it as a beacon to the vaults of the facility.

Any guards that get in his way don't stand a chance; if Alex or Riptide don't dispatch them, it's child's play to slide into their mind and suggest that they want to press their guns to their own temples and pull the trigger.

[diecastking]

He can't even stand under his own power, but Erik pulls against the ropes securing him to the wall by his abused wrists.

His long matted hair keeps falling in his eyes, but he doesn't need his sight to know that Charles is getting closer.

It's Alex who spots the glass prison first, his havoc power reflecting oddly back at him. "There, Professor!"

[guideshapelead]

As Charles gets closer, he realises that it's not shielding that's keeping Erik so faint in his mind; it's Erik himself. He's so weak that he can barely hold the connection.

//Erik// he tries to communicate as they reach the prison, a wall of glass all that separates them. //It's me. I'm here. You're safe.//

His soothing words are somewhat at odds with his behaviour. He doesn't even bat an eyelid as he suggests to the few remaining guards stationed at Erik's door that they would be best off turning their guns on themselves. As they do so, wrapping their lips around their weapons and blowing holes clean through the back of their heads, Charles moves past them without a second glance.

Humans mean nothing to him, now.

[diecastking]

Erik would think this a cruel trick, but no one could replicate the feeling of Charles in his mind.

His eyes take in the new muscle, the grim beard, the cold fury in Charles' eyes - and Erik knows he's not worthy of such a man. Not like this.

"Charles," he murmurs, voice a cracked whisper, and then can say no more.

[guideshapelead]

At long, long last, Charles is back at Erik's side. He squats down in front of him, hand moving to his shoulder in a movement of reassurance, though he couldn't say who he's reassuring.

"I'm here now, old friend. You're perfectly safe."

[diecastking]

Despite the squalor and the pain of his condition, Erik feels his face stretch into what could be a smile.

Alex dares to come closer and, focussing his power, severs the ropes holding Erik's wrists. His arms fall to his sides like a rag doll's, the only expression of his agony the momentary closing of his eyes.

"Thank you," he murmurs.

[guideshapelead]

Leaning in, Charles presses his lips softly to Erik's forehead, holding him for a moment before reluctantly pulling back.

//Hank// he calls for his friend. It's clear to him that Erik will have to be carried out of here.

[diecastking]

Erik leans into Charles' warmth and when his dear friend pulls away, Erik finds his cheeks wet and stinging with the salt.

"Is this for me?" he mumbles through cracked lips, taking in the devastation, the army, the facility starting to burn around them.

[guideshapelead]

"It's for us," Charles answers. "For all of us. Mutant and proud, wasn't that your motto?"

[diecastking]

"Yes," Erik says, tears leaching the last vestiges of moisture from his body. He wants to leap into Charles' arms, murder his torturers, dance on their ashes.

But the wall is the only thing keeping him vaguely upright and he's not sure how long he can remain conscious to witness their victory.

[guideshapelead]

Charles' army are scattered across the complex, intent on leaving no survivors, so the Professor does not expect Hank to come immediately to his aid.

"Things have changed, Erik," he tells him whilst they're waiting, keeping him awake. "Your legacy is strong."

[diecastking]

"But I am not," he croaks, and feels his vision darken.

After all this time under torture, he prays it will not be hope that kills him.

[guideshapelead]

//Stay with me Erik// Charles begs, refusing to lose him now, after all this hard work.

//Just a little longer. Please?//

[diecastking]

"I want to," Erik murmurs, mangled hands unable to reach for him.

"I want this...new world more than...anything."

[guideshapelead]

//And you will see it, my friend// Charles promises, reaching for Erik instead and holding his hands gently in his own.

//Hank// It's a command, this time. //Come here at once//

[diecastking]

Erik sees a blue hulk out of the corner of his eye, trying to hold on to his connection with Charles.

"Burn them all," he mumbles. "For me."

[guideshapelead]

//We will// Charles promises, moving away when Hank reaches them.

"Make sure he lives," he commands, handing Erik over into the Beast's care.

//We're leaving// he tells his team, scattered around the building. //Burn this place to the ground.//

[diecastking]

As Charles moves away, Erik slides into unconsciousness, unwilling yet inexorably drawn into darkness.

He comes round slowly, like crawling out of thick treacle, and finds himself in a bed for the first time in three months.

[guideshapelead]

Charles has sat at Erik's side since their return to the mansion, determined to be there when he wakes. The rest of his army are capable of looking after themselves for a day or so without his leadership.

//Welcome back, old friend// he sends, softly, when Erik finally starts to surface.

[diecastking]

Despite the weakness of his body, Erik turns to Charles like a flower to the light, a genuine smile on his abused face.

"Charles," he says, the word infused with warmth despite his ragged voice.

[guideshapelead]

"How are you feeling?" Charles asks, speaking out loud instead.

"You've been asleep quite some time."

[diecastking]

Erik's maimed fingers curl around Charles' wrist. They are crooked, skeletal, and Charles is as vital as ever.

"One hundred and seven days."

[guideshapelead]

Charles is surprised by the number, sure that it was no way near that long, before realising that Erik's talking about the time that has passed since the fateful day on the beach.

"You've been here three days. At the mansion."

[diecastking]

Erik nods, taking in that information. His body aches, but the pain is far away and Charles is close.

"Safe?"

[guideshapelead]

"Perfectly."

Charles has turned his family home into a military base since losing Erik to the government. No one gets close without him knowing about it, and the number of defences he has set up means that no one will get a step closer than he wants them to.

"Nobody gets close to these grounds without my say so."

[diecastking]

"And you...you used all this for me?" Erik says, quietly stunned.

"There are better fights."

[guideshapelead]

"This is your legacy, Erik," Charles answers, passion clear in his voice.

"Mutant and proud. That's your motto. And that's what we are. An army that will make sure mutants have their proper place on this planet."

[diecastking]

Charles is passion and righteous anger, and Erik finds it compelling.

But he can't do anything about it, trapped by this weak frail body.

"Your army."

[guideshapelead]

"No," Charles shakes his head at that. "Your army. Your vision. I was just keeping it warm for you."

[diecastking]

Erik looks away, up at the stark white of the ceiling.

"I am not fit for any army, Charles."

[guideshapelead]

"You will be," Charles encourages, finding Erik's hand and holding it as tight as he dares without causing him any pain.

"Hank will make you as good as new again in no time."

[diecastking]

Erik presses Charles hand, his own pale and withered by comparison.

"I will be good for you."

[guideshapelead]

"You always have been, my friend." Charles smiles fondly down at Erik, keeping his hand firmly clasped around the other man's.

[diecastking]

Even this short conversation has exhausted him, but Erik is determined to fight to stand strong again.

"I should...get up."