𝕛𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕣 (bardcore) wrote in welcomethreads, @ 2013-07-07 23:14:00 |
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It had been a period of adjustment, in more ways than one. Charles had found himself in a position he had quite frankly never expected to be in, running a school while adapting to life without the use of his legs. And all of this without his sister or the man who had, in a short span of time, become his dearest friend. Thankfully, he was good at adapting to loss. He had thrown himself into his work, helping the boys through his own grief in order to avoid dealing with his own. It wasn't the healthiest method of coping, but it worked for him. He threw himself into his work with the school, rebuilding Cerebro and finding new students. He did his best to avoid looking for Raven or Erik, the former because it felt like a betrayal of her trust even after everything and the latter because it hurt to face the emptiness where his friend's mind should have been.
He was doing better now than he had in the early days, when pain and grief and loneliness had threatened to overwhelm him. The school was thriving and his students continued to amaze him. He missed Moira, but he knew that he had done the right thing for the children in his care. He was protecting them from a world that was dangerous, giving them a safe haven. The CIA had shown that they were not to be trusted, and though he knew Moira would never willingly betray them, it was still too dangerous for her to have any information that could lead them to his school. Both for her and for them. He was doing his best, trying to be the teacher they all needed, but he was tired and lonely and there were days when he wondered if it was all worth it. Days when his mistakes felt too numerous to count, weighing him down and making him question everything.
It was one of those days that brought him out to the grounds, alone, hoping the spring air would help him clear his mind. The children were studying or playing or practicing with their abilities. It was hard to tell. But he was alone in one of the small gardens, when the ground seemed to break open, light spilling out from the earth. He stared in shocked amazement before he felt himself being pulled toward it. He could have called for assistance, but he worried that would lead to one of the children being hurt, or worse. And then he was falling and the world around him faded into bright light and rushing wind until he suddenly crashed back to earth. He lay there for a long moment before pulling himself into a sitting position with more effort than he might have liked. He looked around, confused to find himself in what seemed to be a park, in a place quite he didn't recognise at all, his chair nowhere to be seen. "Fuck me..." he said eloquently, confusion evident on his face. Where was he? And what on earth had happened?
“If that's an invitation, my dear,” Erik drawled, the familiar voice having hit his ears from where he was lying sprawled not more than a few feet away, “it's a little too late.” Wherever he had ended up, Erik was less than thrilled to find that he wasn’t alone. His time with the newly formed Brotherhood had been progressing well. They had, with Emma's help, gathered a handful more to their cause, the disreputable and the disenfranchised often being more than eager to find their place in a world filled with cruelty and apathy. Charles had been the furthest thing from his mind for some time. Well, perhaps not the furthest. For as much as Erik could still count Raven as much more of a friend than a colleague, the others followed him because he had a vision and a direction and had little desire to get to know him as a person beyond what they could utilize him for. And it had been more than a few nights that Erik had found himself missing the company of a sympathetic ear and a mind of equal intelligence to challenge him. And now, having been yanked rather unceremoniously from one of the Brotherhood's meetings and dropped..wherever this was with Charles back within his reach, he couldn't quite ignore the keening in his chest that longed for the other man’s companionship to be restored to him.
But that would never happen as long as they were on opposite sides of the issue.
"I suppose this could be worse," Erik said, frowning for a long moment as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, reaching up to check his head only to suddenly realized that wherever he had ended up, his helmet hadn't come with him. That didn't make any sense. He rarely took it off, and when he did, it was often within Emma’s presence so that she could put up a mental force field to block out any attempts to access his mind. Now, though, he was open and vulnerable, and if anything, that just put his even more on edge. "Whoever abducted us could have dropped us somewhere that we can't leave." Casting a long look at Charles, Erik frowned. Was the man just going to sit there all day? "As it is, this seems simple enough. There's only one road."
Charles hadn't thought it could get worse, but then he hadn't expected he'd find himself suddenly in Erik's company again. As much as he had missed his old friend, and he had missed him dearly, he had no desire for a reunion when he was in a position of so much vulnerability. It was unfair that after everything, after sacrificing so much to keep both Erik and Raven from learning of his condition, this was how it would come to light. He had wanted to protect them, to shield them from the painful truth and to remove any obstacle from them pursuing their happiness. It may have left him alone in a time when he would have prefered to be anything but, but it was a choice he couldn't bring himself to regret. Besides, he had no desire for them to look at him differently. He didn't want to be pitied, or seen as weak. It was something his pride would not allow.
"Erik," he greeted his former friend, polite but cool, not quite willing to reveal how much he had missed the other man. This was too much, and he cursed whatever or whoever had chosen to bring them together like this. He watched his friend for a moment before speaking. "You're looking well. I must admit that I had begun to think you didn't actually own anything beyond that horrific suit you've taken to wearing." Here he raised an eyebrow. He had seen pictures of "Magneto" in all his glory, and he found them rather underwhelming. "Really, darling, what were you thinking?"
"Worse though it could be," Charles said with a sigh, "I would still like to have some idea of where we are before going traipsing about an unknown town where we've suddenly been dropped by some sort of portal." He was stalling, unable or unwilling to look Erik in the eyes as it became more and more clear that the other man was waiting for him to stand. He would be waiting a long time for that, Charles thought bitterly. Why couldn't it have been anyone else? Hell, at this point he'd have happily settled for Emma, and he thought her unseemly and a perfect example of why telepaths were so often mistrusted by other mutants. "Though if you wish to take your chances, by all means, go. Do not let me stop you." Hopefully Erik would leave him and he could figure out a way to deal with this without admitting his infirmity to his friend.
The dismissive air Erik felt in those last few words deepened his frown, but they weren't going to move him. Whatever issues he and Charles had, whatever would rear their head now that they could no longer avoid each other by placing hundreds of miles in between their locations, were secondary to the main problem that they were both facing at the moment. They had no idea where they were, and while leaving would be a simple enough matter, Erik had to admit that Charles was right. There was no point in leaving until they knew where they were and how they had gotten here in the first place. Erik had his theories, but there was no point in assuming that one of them was bound to be true and leaving without checking. He could very well just end up right back here, and he didn't want to go to the trouble of distancing himself from Charles without Azazel's help only to be thrown right back in the mix with him.
"Because each of us being on our own in an unfamiliar location is such a brilliant idea," Erik drawled, sighing as he stepped over to Charles and offered him a hand up. "There’s no sense in sitting there pouting, dear. We should get moving if we want to figure out what’s going on and get out of dodge before nightfall."
Pausing, as he stared down at the other man, Erik stared at Charles for a moment before asserting, "And there’s nothing wrong with my outfit."
Stubborn bastard. Why couldn't he just leave? That was, after all, what he was good at. Charles sighed, frowning to himself at the bitterness of his thoughts. He had done his best to get past this, and most days he felt he succeeded, but clearly he had not done so well as he had hoped. "I am not pouting," he insisted, sharply indignant. But he knew he was being foolishly stubborn and, after a moment spent staring at the other man's hand like it was was something alien, he sighed. "As much as I would like to...get moving, I can't." He left it at that, not quite ready to admit the full truth to Erik. He didn't want to see the look on his face when he learned what had happened. It was too much, and he couldn't help but worry that Erik would think it was nothing more than he deserved for daring to help humans. He wasn't sure he could take that if that were the case.
Hoping to distract from what he had just said, he gave a derisive snort. "Of course not," he said dryly. "If you find magenta an especially intimidating color. And have an affinity for capes. Really, Erik. There is a great deal wrong with that monstrosity." Not the least of which being the helmet. A helmet which was now absent.
He mused for the briefest moment that, without it, he could convince Erik that he could walk, and remove all the complications of this situation. But he dismissed the idea almost before it had fully formed. He would not betray Erik's trust like that, would not give him any reason to think that he had been right to do as he had, blocking him out and refusing to trust him. No, he would simply have to deal with this as best he could.
"It's bold and domineering," Erik said, scowling at Charles. Of all of the arguments they could be having, of everything that could have come up between them, this was what seemed the most important. Erik was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that Charles thought that this was something that they needed to discuss right now, but if he wanted to talk about it, so be it. "It makes a statement and leaves a clear impression which is exactly what I want it to do. Now take my damn hand so I can help you up. I know it was a hard fall, but there's no sense in just sitting there. That doesn't get anything done, and I'm more than strong enough to help you distribute whatever weight you can't support right now."
Rolling his eyes, Erik shifted his position, extending both hands to Charles and giving him a pointed look, "If you're really so lazy as to not want to leverage yourself with one arm, I suppose I could lift you straight up. Now, are we going, or am I going to have to plop myself down beside you until you decide to act your age?"
"It's certainly bold," Charles countered, "but I don't know that 'domineering' is the word I would use. Ridiculous is far more fitting." It was easier to argue about this than to deal with whatever fallout would come from admitting to Erik that he couldn't move from where he was, that his legs were useless and that he was a cripple. He had never wanted Erik to find out, though logically he had known it would come to light one day, and anything to forstall that eventuality was a relief. "It makes a statement that your minions are playing an elaborate prank on you and leaves the clear impression that you got dressed in the dark and quite possibly suffer from some degree of color vision deficiency. But if that's what you want, then I suppose it does its job."
He would have been perfectly content to keep bickering about Erik's sartorial choices. He probably would have too, but then the other man began speaking again and Charles could hardly breathe past the anger and the frustration. Erik had always had the peculiar talent for lodging his foot firmly in his mouth, but this went beyond that. No sense in just sitting there? Acting like he was being lazy or childish. He'd fully intended to address the subject with as much grace and subtlety as possible, but all his good intentions flew out the window in the face of overwhelming outrage. "I can't," he shouted, clenching his shaking hands into tight fists. "I can't just get up and walk, so I suppose you'll just have to sit down for a good long time. It's what I've been doing for the past year. And as much as I would dearly love to change that, the fact is that I can't, because I can't feel my bloody legs!"
Erik heard the words. He heard them loud and clear and had little choice but to with Charles shouting them at him, but he didn't fully understand what was being said. Charles...couldn't feel his legs? The past year? Erik had assumed that Charles had simply sprained something on their landing. Erik knew he was bound to have a few bruises from the way that he'd impacted with the ground, and he’d figured that Charles's arrival had just left him landing awkwardly and causing some sort of impact issue that left him unable to support his body weight on his own. But from what his old friend was saying, this was a more permanent situation. One that, from the implied length of time that he’d suffered from the affliction, had been incurred around the time they had parted company.
It hit Erik like a ton of bricks, that shock of realization that when he and Raven had left Charles on the beach, he hadn't bothered to move from the prone position that he’d ended up in. Erik had never given it much of a thought, figuring that the impact followed by the emotional upheaval and loss had simply left Charles too floored for him to feel like making the effort to move, but now... Now.
Erik sat. In all honesty, it was an action taken more to keep from collapsing under the weight of what he'd just found out than Charles's angry suggestion, but it was hard to tell what it looked like with Erik simply sitting there, staring at the other man, his outstretched hands and arms having gone limp despite the offer not having been retracted. "Why didn't you say anything?" Erik finally asked, the words sounding dull despite the edge of concern that rimmed them. "Before I left, why didn’t you say....?"
"I didn't need your pity," Charles said softly, already regretting his outburst, the fight draining out of him as swiftly as it had built up. He had been upset, but he hadn't wanted to hurt Erik. And it was clear that he had. "Some of it was shock. Some of it was...I didn't want to admit it, even to myself. But mostly...I couldn't do that to you. You and Raven...you would have stayed. You would have felt obligated. And I couldn't do that. Not to you and not to her. I couldn't bear to hold you back. You would have been miserable...you know you would have...and you would have resented me for it sooner or later. It was better for you both to leave and be happy. I cared about you both too much to watch you give up what you wanted for my sake." He looked down at the ground. "I didn't mean for you to find out this way. I shouldn't have told you like that...I apologise."
He couldn't look at Erik, couldn't bear to see the shock and hurt on his face. "There's nothing to be done for it," he said. "Traumatic injury to the T-9 vertebra resulting in paraplegia. And really...it isn't so bad. I manage well enough most days...but it seems my chair didn't come along for this trip, so it's a bit of an inconvenience. I suppose I should be grateful though. I imagine that would have been a much more problematic landing."
It was his fault. A voice in the back of Erik's mind told him that that was true. He'd been trying to protect himself, and in the process, he'd permanently injured someone that he thought of like a brother, who was far closer to him than anyone he’d ever known during the course of his life, and even with their issues, the idea that he'd left someone that he cared about in this sort of state caused his mind to revolt. It was his fault. It was...but it wouldn't have even been an issue had Moira not felt the need to fire at him in the first place. The wave of guilt was replaced rather swiftly by a surge of bitterness that overwhelmed everything else. This wasn't a moment where either was needed, though, so Erik bit back on both.
"Well, I guess we'll have to figure something out," Erik said, frowning as he glanced around them. It would be easier if there was any kind of metal anywhere around them. No, they had to be in the middle of a garden where plants were pretty much the only thing that they had to work with. "I suppose I could always carry you until we found something else that would work. But I'm thinking you'd rather not?"
Charles could feel the guilt and self-recrimination that consumed Erik. It wasn't that he was trying to evesdrop on the other man's feelings, but they were so strong that they were nearly overwhelming. Closing his eyes, he focused on his own walls, strengthening them as best he could. The last thing he wanted was to make Erik feel like he was taking advantage of him. His friend had enough reasons, however contrived, not to trust him. He would not give him more. When the guilt turned to bitterness and anger, he nearly flinched but held the reaction back. "Erik," he said softly, laying a hand on his friend's arm. Even without the emotions he could feel, the struggle was clear on the other man's face. "What's done is done. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. It just happened. And I am learning to live with it."
He took a deep breath, looking down at the ground. As much as he wanted to accept Erik's help, he couldn't bring himself to do that. It felt too much like showing weakness, which wasn't something he could bring himself to do. Shaking his head, he remained quiet for a long moment before speaking. "I..." He frowned. "I'm not weak. I won't be carried about like some child." He stopped, embarrassed at his outburst. "I'm sorry. I just...I can't do that. I can't allow you to do that. Please understand." For someone who was so cerebral, it was especially frustrating to have his body fail him so completely.
"It's not a matter of weakness, Charles," Erik said, frowning softly as he filed away Charles's reassurances to consider later. There were far more important things to deal with right now, and while Erik could understand Charles's unwillingness to put himself into that position, there weren't exactly many options available to them right now that wouldn't appear in the same way the one he had suggested did. Of course, there was one thing... Erik wasn't sure he could manage it, though, not without taxing himself greatly. But if it got them moved until they were at least able to find something that was more feasible, it might be worth the exhaustion. "But I won't carry you. Not like that," He said, shifting over next to Charles and settling his hands on the ground next to him. "But we've got to move you somehow," He said, closing his eyes and reaching out with his ability.
It had been some time since he'd left Charles on that beach, since the other man had allowed him to tap into his ability without the necessary reserves of intense emotions behind it, and since then, Erik had been slowly finding other things that his ability was capable of. Reaching out slowly around Charles, Erik could sense the magnetic forces of the Earth pulling him down, pulling them both down, and after taking a deep breath, his fingers clenched as he pushed his power into the ground. It was a lengthy tick of the seconds, the sweat beading on Erik's forehead as he concentrated, but the second that the shift was managed, it was obvious as Charles's entire weight was lifted from the ground, hovering a few inches above it. Eyes opening and raising his hands, Erik turned his attention down to Charles before giving another push with his ability and directly the levitation forward. It was tiring, exhausting, as it required him not only to shift the gravitational field of the earth around Charles, but use what metal was on the other man to move him along with the shifted field, but it would be something. Enough to get them out of the park and into the town proper without him having to pick Charles up like a child.
He'd better damn well appreciate this.
Charles wasn't sure what Erik was trying to do, until suddenly he was off the ground. It was and unsettling experience, finding himself hovering out of nowhere, and for a moment he couldn't think of anything except how impressed he was with Erik for managing this. It was more than he had ever seen his friend accomplish, and it was hard to believe how much Erik had clearly grown in power since they had parted ways. But it was also obvious to him that doing this was putting a considerable amount of strain on the other man. He could see it in the other man's face and the tension there and the sweat on his forehead. As much as he wanted to hold on to his pride, he couldn't allow Erik to hurt himself just to keep from feeling helpless. It wasn't right.
"Erik," he said, gently, "stop. You don't need to push yourself like this. I may not like the idea of being...helpless, but neither do I particularly like the thought of you straining yourself just to make things easier for me. Please. It's not...I can manage a bit of embarrassment. Really. Just stop before you hurt yourself. That's the last thing I want."
They'd made it maybe a few feet, and Erik was already feel as though everything in his system was being taxed beyond what he was capable of giving. He was barely to even concentrate on his surrounding for maintaining the polarization of the gravity field around Charles. It even took him a few seconds to realize that Charles had even started talking, but the second that he realized what was being said, he exhaled slowly, releasing his hold on the field slowly and depositing Charles back on the ground as he double over, hands resting on his knees and as closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
"Probably for the best," Erik said after a moment with a weak laugh. "I've never tried that with anything larger than a book. I'm not sure how much longer I could have been able to hold it with you," He said, opening his eyes and casting a glance briefly to Charles. "You're quite a bit larger than you look, my friend," He said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. It wasn't the best situation for them to reunite, but Erik figured...he could make the best of it. At least until they sorted out what was going on. Erik imagined if this was a purposeful, targeted attack on their kind, Charles and he would have two very different ways of how to deal with it.
"And it'll just be until we can find something that I can move more easily," Erik said. "Or something you can move yourself. From then on out, it won't be an issue. All right?"
Charles nodded silently, still not entirely comfortable with the idea of being carried by Erik. It chafed at his sense of independence, and he hated being made to feel like he was some sort of invalid. But it was their only option at this point, unless he wanted to live out in the park or something. And that, he imagined, was a fairly impractical plan. He would just have to suck up his discomfort and deal with this. Hopefully, they would be able to find a hospital quickly and get some information and a wheelchair. Then he wouldn't have to worry.
"It's impressive what you can manage," he told Erik, prefering to focus on that rather than the uncomfortable task ahead of them. "Your mutation has clearly grown much stronger since I last saw you. I am...glad to see that you're doing well." He left it at that, unwilling or unable to say more than that. He sighed, his hands twitching where they were clasped firmly in his lap. He may have needed help, but he was hardly going to raise his arms like a child and beg. He had a bit more self-respect than that. "I suppose we should get this over with," he said instead. "Before it gets too late. I suppose we can check the nearest hospital and see if there's anything of use there."
He looked up at Erik, giving him a small smile. "I truly am sorry for this, my friend," he said softly. "I don't mean to inconvenience you like this. I just hope that we can sort it out sooner rather than later."
"Charles," Erik said, peering down at his friend for a moment before returning his smile with a slight shake his head before bending down to pick him up. It was a simple task, a lot simpler than it should have been, as despite his area of mass, Charles seemed to weigh a great deal less than he should have. There was a flash of concern in Erik, but he bit his tongue, figuring that probing into the issue would only make an already uncomfortable situation that much more uneasy. Instead, he simply secured his arms around his friend before heading towards what looked to be the center of town. From there, they could hopefully figure out where everything was, what had happened, and how they could leave. "This isn't an inconvenience. And I wasn't going to leave you behind, so out of all of the options we had, I'm pretty sure this is the best one," He said, looking thoughtful before deciding to direct the conversation back to a less potentially embarrassing topic.
"I've been trying to see what else I could manage," Erik said quietly. "I've always been able to sense more than just metal, but I’ve never bothered to see if I could...do anything with it. There was never a point. It was always hard enough just to move what I wanted to. But now that I don't have to rely on my anger... It's easier."
"Of course you wouldn't," Charles said, showing far more calm than he truly felt as he was forcibly reminded of his own helplessness. "No matter what has come to pass between us, you would hardly be so cruel as to do something like that. But the fact remains, my dear, that it is inconvenient. You hardly could have expected you would have to carry me around like some sort of...invalid." Rather than focusing on the topic at hand, an endeavour that would no doubt end in more discomfort, hurt and anger on all sides, Charles chose instead to focus on the discussion of Erik's new strides with his ability. It seemed safer, all things considered. As much as they disagreed on the how of mutants and the world, they had always shared a deep appreciation and fascination with the intricacies of mutations.
"I told you," he said with a small smile. "Rage and serenity. It seems as though you've finally captured the balance." Of course, he knew what had brought that balance. His head had ached for months with the phantom pain of Shaw's death. But he wouldn't bring that up now. No need to borrow trouble where there was none. "I am glad that you have found peace at last, my friend." Even if that peace was away from him. "Well then, shall we get on. I hardly think you want to continue carrying me about all day. The sooner we find a medical facility, the sooner I can regain my independence, and you your freedom." He paused, then smiled. "It is good to see you again, Erik."
"You say that as though this is some type of servitude," Erik said, peering down at Charles with an arch of his eyebrow. Had Erik not wished to be in this position, he could have walked away. There was absolutely nothing which would have obligated him to carrying Charles, even his own unwillingness to leave him behind was no obligation, so to think of himself as unfree at the moment would have been an intense exaggeration. "I think, perhaps, if this would count as anything, it would be atonement," He said, his voice having gone slowly quiet at the words. It seemed like they would have to try rather hard to not end up stumbling across awkward topics of conversation with each other.
"It is," Erik echoed Charles after a moment, offering his friend a slight smile. "I had expected the circumstances of us encountering each other again to be far more confrontational. For all the confusion of this situation, it's more than I could have hoped for."
"I simply meant that you could hardly wish to be burdened by me," Charles said with a roll of his eyes, "particularly not in a situation where we haven't the faintest idea where we are, let alone how or why we came to be here. I do know you, Erik. Being so encumbered in a potentially dangerous situation is not what you would choose." He paused, sighing. "And there is no need for...atonement. This was not...it was an accident. Nothing more." He refused to think of it in any other way, and he would hardly allow Erik to. The man carried enough guilt without adding this to his load. The amount of tension between them was almost tangible, and as much as he wanted to discuss what had happened that day, he had no desire to add to it. Still...
"Whatever may have happened," Charles said, "I never saw our parting as anything more than a difference in ideals. I never...I still cared for you. For both of you. I had hoped that...we might meet again, under positive circumstances. How is Raven, anyway?"