FIC: Vita Supernaturalis (X-Men AU) Part Three(b)
6th June 2011:
“Why do we need another hunter exactly?” Sean piped up as he, Alex, Charles and Erik strode into the bar that was home to some leather-wearing, ‘tough-guys’ that even Charles could take out - though he might not play fair unlike Erik.
“The more of us there are the better chance we have at succeeding.” Charles answered lightly as he almost flowed like liquid around a number of the punk-rocker style patrons of the bar. One of them looked him up and down speculatively but a quiet growl from Erik soon made them find great interest in other things. Though, Charles supposed, their sudden interest in their drinks could have had something to do with the fact that Erik’s eyes held a dangerous and deadly edge to them, but Charles wasn’t all that concerned with that.
They quietly made their way over to the bar, Alex and Sean wisely hanging back as Erik and Charles approached a lone man drinking hard liquor like it was water. They both leaned on the countertop, causally, on either side of the hunter and Charles smiled as he introduced himself. “My name’s Charles Xavier.”
“And I’m Erik Lensherr.” Erik added as he looked briefly at Charles before focusing his attention on the hunter between them.
“Go fuck yourselves.” The hunter said gruffly as he threw back another shot.
Charles looked up at Erik with a raised eyebrow and he smiled slightly as he thought at his friend. ‘I don’t think he’ll be willing to help us’, and he blushed slightly as Erik mentally smirked at him.
‘I think I’m more concerned with his idea of “fucking ourselves”’, the hunter thought as he moved away from the bar and Charles fell into step with him. They walked back over towards Sean and Alex who obviously understood what had happened. In silence they left the bar and climbed back into the Impala.
As Erik pulled the car out of the parking lot and set off along the main road towards their motel he glanced sideways at Charles and purposefully thought. ‘Maybe we should “go fuck each other” Charles?’
Charles choked on the breath he had been in the process of taking and he stared at Erik who turned to look at the road, a smirk on his face as Charles blushed. ‘Perhaps when the children are resting’, Charles thought back, and he added a couple of mental images along with the thought. Erik’s eyelid shuttered rapidly as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.
‘You are a cruel tease do you know that?’ Erik thought back at Charles as the Brit smiled and laughed silently before settling back in his set.
‘You wouldn’t have me any other way Erik and you know it’, Charles thought back and Erik found that he couldn’t argue with him.
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9th June 2011:
“Listen up and pay attention.” Erik said harshly, catching everyone’s attention as he stood in front of his team, their team. The hunters all paused in their actions to look over at the tall hunter who stared at them with flint in his eyes.
Charles was stood beside him, looking quiet and solemn but no less determined, and if any of them looked in his eyes then they’d see that they were burning with emotion. Power. Alex and Sean were sat next to each other loading salt shells into a dozen shotguns, silently certain in their abilities but hyped up on nervous energy because they were going into battle. They were about to go out onto the front line of a war they’d only ever played a small part in, now they were going to fight for the entire planet. Charles could see the fear, the worry, the pain, the determination in their minds and their hearts, he could see how they were reassuring each other with small smiles, gentle looks, reaffirming words. Hank and Darwin were sitting separately, away from each other on opposite sides of the motel room they were gearing up in. Charles could sense how they were silently determined, their fear firmly capped and their anger, their passion and for Darwin his love, were burning brightly as they readied themselves for the battle that they realistically knew they might not survive.
“We are going to go into a battle, a fight, that none of you have to join us with.” Charles said softly, but his words burned. “Erik and I are after Shaw who is leading this attack. Our intention to kill him and we may well die doing so.”
There was silence in the motel room as five faces stared at him, Erik’s openly showing his surprise and his conflicting emotions. Charles took a breath and continued, ignoring the way Erik’s eyes bored into him. “You have a choice right now, and whatever you decide do know that you will not be judged for it. You can leave now and we will not stop you. Or you can stay and fight for, not only yourselves, but for everyone on the planet.”
Charles paused and looked at Alex. “For your family.”
He looked over at Sean. “For your friends.”
He looked at Hank. “For your memories.”
Darwin stared levelly at him. “For your freedom.”
And slowly, Charles turned to look at Erik and he said, softly. “For your beliefs.”
Erik gasped quietly, but the sound was so loud in the quiet of the room that it echoed in Charles’ ears as he turned to look at the others again. “It is very likely that none of us will survive this battle. It’s very likely that we may well fail and the world will fall. But, we owe it to ourselves and those we love, to try.”
Staring at each of them in turn, bar Erik, Charles waited with baited breath as he heard their thoughts rolling around in their minds. He could clearly hear the doubt in Sean’s mind, could clearly hear the fear. ‘I’m just a kid. What would happen to Alex if I died in this? What would happen to me if Alex died?’ Charles swallowed thickly as he switched his attention to Alex’s thoughts. ‘Sean’s a kid. He’s like my brother dude... I can’t let him do this, but I can’t stop him either... fuck! I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t protect him.’
Hank was silent, his thoughts boxed away and not openly broadcasting and Charles had no urge to pry into the man’s mind, not when he already knew that Hank wouldn’t back-out now. The man had lost a lot to the supernatural and Erik was like a cousin, a relative that he hadn’t seen a lot of when he’d been younger but now was impossibly close to. He knew that Hank would follow Erik to Hell and back again because Erik was all he had to cling onto in this world. And Charles as well thanks to Erik.
Darwin was staring at the floor, his mind thinking back over darker times; times he’d rather forget but realised that he couldn’t because they drove him to be who he was now. Memories of nameless faces, unknown places and dripping blood as he watched his own hands crush and rip and tear and break people. Memories of the Demon that had possessed him and used his body as one would operate a crane in a dock. ‘I’ve already agreed to this knowing exactly what I was getting into... I’m not backing out now.’
Alex looked up at Charles and slowly nodded, Sean joining him in his silent agreement and Charles felt a flare of pride rising in his stomach as he saw how these boys, men, were ready to go to war, to die because Charles had asked them to. It both amazed and sickened him knowing he had that level of power, he was the leader but sometimes even the leader needed to be lead.
Darwin looked at Hank who glanced at the other hunter. Something passed between them and Charles knew better than to pry as they both turned to look at him and nodded in agreement. Erik, Charles knew, had never even considered leaving to be a possibility. Erik’s entire life had been building up to this point and Charles knew that nothing would dissuade the man from killing Shaw and if Charles were a better man, he might have tried to argue with Erik because Erik was a better man than that. But Charles wasn’t a better man, he was what he was and Shaw had taken from him the one piece of humanity that he held in him that might have saved the Demon from Erik’s wrath. Now, Charles wasn’t sure if Erik would fire the killing shot of if it would be Charles himself.
And it should probably scare him, the knowledge that he could shoot a man, a victim just as much as he, who couldn’t defend himself against Charles or Shaw possessing him. But it didn’t scare him, because a part of Charles realised that the peace he’d known before hunting wasn’t peace so much as the calm before the storm. There was no such thing as peace for hunters.
So there was no such thing as peace for Charles either.
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10th June 2011:
The bright shining sun was such a contrast to the pure evil that permeated the air around them that it made Charles want to wretch only he had nothing in his stomach to throw up. Standing next to Erik, the others a little way behind them, he stared into the distance, contemplating the iron tracks beneath their feet. It was strange to find the tracks out in the middle of nowhere, especially since Charles knew that no trains had ever really travelled along this route when they’d first been lain down. No, these tracks weren’t for travel, they were to keep something in. Only a few feet to their right there was a metre long gap in the tracks, like someone had purposefully ripped them apart, and Charles knew that whatever the tracks were keeping locked up would be able to get out without any contest now.
“The Gate’s still closed.” Erik’s voice filtered through the light breeze and Charles turned to look at the taller hunter, raising an eyebrow as he waited for more from his friend. “If it weren’t we wouldn’t have got this far. We’re a main target for Shaw because he knows we’re coming to kill him.”
“He fears us.” Charles said slowly as he returned his gaze to the open space before them, squinting slightly his eyes managed to pick out the clearing about two miles away from them. The clearing they were going to be heading for when Hank finished calling any hunters in the surrounding area and warning them that some baddies might be active in the area soon. They had a right to know what was coming in Charles’ opinion but Erik had been right when he’d pointed out that the other hunters would panic knowing that Shaw was trying to kick-start the apocalypse. So Hank was feeding the nearby hunters some spiel about a witch’s spell potentially going wrong and releasing a couple of Demons and such in the area.
“So he should.” Erik commented as he slid his hand along his side to grip the handle of the Colt tightly. “We’re going to kill him and he knows we’ll do it.” He added as he turned to look down at the Brit who continued to stare off into the distance. “I’m surprised you haven’t tried to argue with me about this Charles.”
“I don’t think I could fight this even if I wanted to my friend.” Charles sighed, refusing to look at Erik and see the questioning look on his friends face. “Perhaps when we first met I could have found it in me to argue against your plan, but now... now I don’t want to argue with you.” Slowly Charles turned to pierce Erik with a heated stare. “Shaw is a Demon. A monstrous creation that was once a human soul but has been twisted and warped into something barely recognisable. There is nothing remotely human in him except hate, anger and darkness. Killing him is more of an act of kindness than anything else.”
“An act of kindness for all the people whose lives he has yet to ruin.” Erik intoned darkly and finally, finally, Charles turned to look at his friend. He took in the dark shadows beneath Erik’s eyes. He took in how his friends entire frame was wrought with tension to the point where it looked like he might snap if he moved too suddenly. Reaching out Charles gently grasped Erik’s hand in his own, lightly squeezing the appendage, and he smiled at the hunter with love in his eyes.
He didn’t need to say anything because they didn’t need words anymore. Not now. Words would only complicate things and Charles was so very tired of complications. So he smiled and held Erik’s hand in his own, sending pulse after pulse of warmth, love and care to his friend until Erik’s body relaxed and the darkness in his eyes faded and the light took its place.
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The Impala and Hank’s truck slowly pulled to a halt just outside the graveyard, their engines dying as Erik and Hank cut them. Slowly the team climbed out of the cars, Alex and Sean darting about to secure a salt line around the vehicles to protect them from any supernatural attack, as Hank and Darwin gave them cover. Erik covered Charles’ back at the Brit cast his mind out for any living souls, finding only an impenetrable wall of ice blocking his mind, and he drew in a quiet breath as he realised they were waiting for them.
Looking to Erik and nodding silently, the pair of them carefully set off in the direction of the gateway, Alex, Sean, Hank and Darwin bringing up the rear; all of them were armed with Shotguns, holy water and hole load of shells. It wasn’t too long before they’d be needing them and they were all acutely aware of the fact that, eventually, they’d run out if they were unlucky. But it wouldn’t do to be thinking about such things right now.
A few tense minutes later and they entered the clearing where the gateway was situated only to find it empty save for themselves. Frowning they all moved so they were covering each other’s back against an attack from all sides and Charles found his attention focused entirely on the gateway. It was magnificent. Wrought iron worked into the building itself and Charles knew that Samuel Colt was the reason it was there in the first place, the creator of the Colt and the man who had set-up the train tracks in the beginning.
Glancing at Erik, Charles jerked his head towards the gateway, and Erik nodded to him before silently signalling to the other hunters to stay there. Carefully and silently, the two of them cautiously made their way over to the gateway and Charles ran a hand over the lock to it all, surprised at the design of it. Well, it almost looked as if...
“Yep Charlie-boy. The Colt’s the key.” A voice rang out in the clearing, dark and menacing, and with an undercurrent to it that Charles recognised. Spinning around, pressing his back against the gateway, and bringing his shotgun up Charles looked out into the clearing. Searching as Erik tightened his grip on his shotgun and stepped slightly so that he was in front of Charles.
Risking a glance over at the others Charles noticed how they were still grouped together, covering every angle like born professionals, and Charles felt a little calmer right up until the point that his eyes noticed a figure standing in the tree-line. A figure that Hank noticed too. Suddenly the clearing was filled with the sound of shotgun’s firing and Erik’s attention snapped onto the group, leaving him temporarily open to an attack. Before Charles could shout out a warning, Erik was thrown to the side, his head cracking against a tombstone hard enough to slice the skin of his forehead.
“Erik!” Charles cried out as he started to move towards his friend only to find himself thrown backwards onto the damp ground. The shotgun was snatched from his grasp and he watched as it was flung across the clearing leaving him completely unarmed save for the Holy Water in his back pocket. Scrambling backwards, Charles’ back hit a tree and he used it to drag himself up to his feet.
Staring around him in fear Charles tried to find the owner of the voice that had haunted his dreams and nightmares for weeks. Distantly he noted that the others were battling against three Demons, firing shell after shell at them, but his focus was more on getting Erik to safety and killing Shaw. Though surviving this whole encounter was pretty high on his list of things-to-do.
Deciding to take a chance, one that he was sure Erik would murder him for at some point, Charles darted towards his friends still dazed form, reaching desperately for him, but before he could reach him something threw him backwards and his body collided painfully with the tree. He let out a little cry of pain as he felt himself pushed back impossibly hard against the tree, and the tips of his boots touched the ground. Charles knew that he was alone right now. Erik was still dazed, nearing unconsciousness, and the others were dealing with the other Demons. With a jolt that sent his heart off on a million-mile per second beat, Charles realised that this is what Shaw wanted.
“Smart boy Charlie-boy.” The voice chuckled in his ear and, if he hadn’t been pinned to the tree, Charles would have flinched. “I wanted to have another chat with you. No hands this time I promise.” He added as Charles’ eyes flashed with panic.
“I doubt we have much to discuss Shaw.” Charles bit out, trying to ignore how he wanted to stutter and stammer out the name, he would not give this cowardly being the satisfaction. Not anymore.
“Well... maybe not what you think we want to discuss but I think it’s only fair for you boys to know just how important you both are. Especially you Charlie-boy, though Erik’s pretty special too.” Shaw drawled as he smiled enthusiastically at Charles who tried to flinch away again. “Come on...” Shaw said softly, leaning close to Charles’ face. “Don’t tell me you’re not curious.” His eyes flickered over Charles’ face, taking in the taught and tense features and how Charles’ eyes were alight with emotions that contradicted each other at every turn.
“I’m not curious.” Charles muttered, sarcasm and hatred dripping over every word as he glared at Shaw who tutted like a parent would with a child.
“Oh well... I’ll be charitable to you Charlie-boy.” Shaw said as he stepped back and turned to give Erik a brief go over with his gaze. “I guess you’ll have to listen for Erik too since he seems a bit out of sorts.” He commented as he returned his attention to Charles, smiling again.
Charles didn’t respond, but he did watch Shaw’s movements sharply and he noticed that Erik wasn’t as ‘out of sorts’ as Shaw assumed. Immediately casting his mind out, as subtly as possible, Charles constructed a net around Erik, one that mislead whatever Shaw saw with his friend. It wasn’t much and it wasn’t powerful but as long as Shaw’s attention was focused on Charles for the majority of the time, then Erik would be free to recover without being made into Demon-chow.
“First off, I suppose I could just show you - and whilst that would be fantastic just to see your face - I don’t feel like being so dramatic.” Shaw said as he idly picked at the nails on one of his hands. Looking up at Charles’ face he smiled again and clapped his hands together. “Okay. The year is 1985, November 2nd and baby Erik is asleep in his crib when mommy comes in to close the window, only it’s already closed. She’s a bit suspicious, but pretty calm until she notices some sulphur on the window ledge - I do hate that particular trait of Demons, the sulphur’s always the biggest give away in the game.”
“Oh you have my empathy.” Charles bit out and he squeezed his eyes shut as the invisible restraints on him tightened to the point where his chest felt like it was being crushed. As quickly as it began, it stopped and Charles was left taking in ragged breaths as Shaw tutted at him like a disappointed parent.
“Cheek isn’t tolerated Charlie-boy. Didn’t you mommy ever teach you manners?” Shaw said, his voice stern, before he smiled darkly and added. “Oh wait. Mommy hated you didn’t she Charlie-boy? The boy who could hear her thoughts. The boy who was responsible for daddy’s death.”
“Shut up!” Charles shouted, pain and anger in his voice, as he tried to pull against the invisible restraints but Shaw chuckled darkly as they just wouldn’t give. “Shut up you bastard!” Suddenly Charles’ head was being pulled backwards until his skull hit the tree hard enough to shake the teeth in his mouth and he slumped, his body going completely limp but it didn’t move as the force keeping him stuck to the tree refused to let him fall.
“Such language Charlie-boy. I should wash your mouth out with soap.” Shaw tutted as he observed how Charles’ eyes glittered with tears of pain, anger and frustration. “Anyway, back to the story!”
“So. Mommy figures out something’s wrong and she’s already interfered too much, and she owes a debt to pay. I can’t have mommy skipping out on deals afterall, it’d be bad for business, so Erik’s mommy finally pays her debt in full and as an extra bonus, her little baby grows up to be one of the best hunters in the business. All useful for me actually.” Shaw said as he cast a brief glance behind him, noticing that Erik had hardly moved but he found Charles suddenly bursting back to life as the Brit began to pull on the restraints holding him place.
Returning his attention to the young man, Shaw smiled and he continued. “Now, that’s Erik’s story; or most of it. But you’ve got a story too Charlie-boy. And your old man was a resourceful fellow. He made a deal with me, just like Erik’s mommy did but he wanted a son whilst Erik’s mommy wanted a normal life. My price was their first born, six months after they were born, meaning both you and little old Erik over there.” Shaw jerked his head to indicate Erik and Charles stared in disbelief at Shaw.
“You’re lying.” The Brit said, his words laced with anger and pain but there was doubt shining there because from what Charles knew of Demons and how they operated, they told the truth just to cause you pain; especially when the truth would be more painful than a lie. And by God was this painful.
“Believe what you like but haven’t you ever wondered why you can do the things you can do Charlie-boy?” Shaw shrugged as he stepped close to the Brit. “You can read minds, manipulate thoughts, move things without touching them. And it all stems from one thing.” Shaw paused dramatically and gently ran a sharp nail along Charles’ face, cutting the skin and leaving a small trail of blood on his cheek. “Blood.”
“You’ve got a little bit of me in your veins Charlie-boy, just like Erik.” Shaw smiled softly, the most human look Charles had ever seen on the Demon’s face, and he touched the nail with Charles’ blood on it to his lips. “All part-and-parcel of the deal’s made, and you’re both so special because of them. Two of kind.”
“Why are we so important to you?” Charles asked as stared at Shaw, his mind numbing slightly as it absorbed everything the Demon had said. He didn’t want to understand it, but he had no choice as his the logical part of his brain analysed everything Shaw was saying and finding that he couldn’t argue with it. It explained so bloody much. Everything even. And Charles hated it.
“Because I’m going to need a leader for my army. Someone special. Except I’ve realised that you two come together as a pair.” Shaw answered as he smiled and waved a hand. “But you Charlie-boy. You’re the really important one. You’re going to be the leader of my army.” He stepped up close to Charles again and smiled. “But Erik’s going to help you ‘cause you obviously need each other.”
“But we don’t need you, you son-of-a-bitch.” A rough voice sounded behind Shaw and the Demon turned around, surprised as he took in the sight of Erik holding the Colt and pulling the trigger. Shaw could see the bullet racing towards him at faster than the speed of sound and he could see that he couldn’t stop it as it ploughed into his scalp.
Charles stared in surprise as the Demon formally known as Shaw collapsed to the ground, dead, as his body was wrought with flashes of supernatural energy shorting out like electricity jumping a gap in the wiring. The sounds of the battle being fought by his team faded away into the background as Charles stared down at the body at his feet. He found himself free of the force pinning him to the tree but he ended up having to use the tree to support himself as he heard Erik stagger to his feet and he looked up just in time to see his friend aiming the Colt at one of the other Demons.
The trigger was pulled again and another bullet shot out of the chamber, zooming across the clearing and impacting against the chest of a suited Demon that had Hank on the floor. It shuddered to a stop, it’s entire body jerking about like a marionette’s puppet and then it fell. The two remaining Demons looked at their fallen comrade before looking over at Erik and they finally noticed that their leader had fallen. Before Erik could re-aim the weapon both of the Demon’s suddenly spurted from the mouths of their possessed humans, twin torrents of black smoke billowing from the two meat suits and disappearing into the ground. Running away. Running back to Hell again.
Erik slowly staggers over to Charles, his movements uncoordinated and sluggish, and seeing his friend looking so vulnerable but being so stubbornly determined made Charles move forward to grasp Erik’s arms and manoeuvre him until he was the one resting against the tree. Staring at Erik in wide-eyed disbelief and relief Charles couldn’t help but smile widely at the hunter.
“My God Erik...” Charles breathed out, his words wavering as his voice hitched painfully, a well of emotions rising up and making his eyes water. He gripped Erik’s forearm tightly as he pressed his head against the hunter’s chest. “I was so scared for you...”
‘Charles’, Erik thought quietly and Charles slowly raised his head. Looking up into Erik’s still dazed and pained eyes Charles reached up and caressed his cheek with a hand. Erik leant into the touch for a moment before he leaned down slightly and captured Charles’ mouth in a soft, gentle and loving kiss. A promise of a future. A promise of tomorrow. A promise of everything for him and it made Charles go weak at the knees as he finally realised. It was over. It was over. The battle was over and they’d won. They’d survived.
Erik was alive and so was he.
And for Charles, it felt about as close to peace as Charles expected himself to ever achieve. Amusingly enough, he found that he was perfectly alright with it as well.
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THE END
(At last!)
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Right. That is IT! I refuse to write anymore for this DAMNED AU!!!
This was meant to be a short, twenty-minute little universe. Instead it’s ended up being twenty THOUSAND plus words. Twenty PAGES (on MWord) and a week’s worth of CHAOS for me! *facepalm*
I AM DONE WITH THIS. PERIOD!
Or at least... I will be so long as my brain doesn’t see fit to add to this at some point soon.... urggh... just kill me please.
Please tell me what you think of this because God damnit this was hard to write for me. There’s only so much of Charles and Erik you can handle when you’re adding in Sam, Dean, Bobby, and all sorts of other shit from an entirely different UNIVERSE!
This has actually killed me X__________________X