cxellover

Author's note: This is the conclusion to this story. This has been written and rewritten a couple of times now but I decided to just put it out here. I am not entirely happy with it but if I keep futzing with it, I'll never post it. I do hope that you like it and feel free to give me some feed back. I think this was the case of a good idea but not enough plot to support it.

Charles had been practicing since that night at the hospital. He was careful at first just so he didn’t end up there any longer than needed. But he kept stretching his
“reach” as it were so by the time he was coming home, he had spend some time on the ground in his projected form. So he knew how to get further than just the grounds. He had calculated the coordinates on a map he had in the study after he had left the boys talking in the kitchen.

He found that the blank spot was in Miami in one of the seeder parts of town. Charles suspected that there was a Hellfire club there and Erik had hunkered down to figure out what to do next. Charles figured that since Shaw’s death, Erik must be a bit out of sorts.

He stepped out of his body and looked at it. He was so angry about what happened to him. The unfairness of it all just washed over him again. ‘Wrong place, Wrong time’ he thought. Although to be fair he had chosen to be there to stop Shaw not just for Erik but for all of humanity. He closed his ‘eyes’ and projected himself down to Miami. He found himself a couple of streets over from the hospital he had been in. He had worked out where the void was from the hospital because he knew he could get here. He set out walking his way to the void.

It wasn’t as far a walk as he thought. He found the club and entered it. It was the usual speakeasy vibe with strippers. He probed his way further back and down and found a guard in front of a private elevator that went interesting place to him. He went to the elevator and followed the shaft down to a rather nice hidden basement apartment. He could hear a couple voices talking in the next room.

“Erik,” said a very familiar voice ”I’m not sure you have thought this through.”

“My mind is made up Raven. Are you in or out?” came the rumbling tones of Erik with a little bit of echo.

“You know that I’m in. I believe in the cause.”

Charles drifted closer to the door and peeked through. There was Erik behind a rather opulent desk. Raven was draped over one of the overstuffed chairs. Emma was sitting rather prime and proper in a lovely white pants suit.

Emma felt something in the back of her head. She turned and Charles could swear that she saw him.

“Erik you have a visitor” she purred “Were you expecting him?”

Erik open the door through Charles which felt a little weird but he had that happen before and learned not to lose his concentration when it happened.

Erik turned to Emma and said “If this is one of your little games, I am not amused.”

A voice in Charles’ head said ‘If you concentrate a little more, you can be seen.’ She gave him a mental image of how she did that in Russia. Charles, always a fast learner, gave it a try and seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Raven gasped and ran to him and through him. Erik still looked puzzled.

“Charles is here Erik. He is projecting his mind.” She turned to Charles and said “Do you know how dangerous what you are doing is? It’s one thing to play around with it when you are in the same room but across the country is not a good idea.”

“And you would know how?”

“Let’s say that it was because of it I found Shaw or rather he found me. Erik, he really can’t do much to you if I am here so you might as well take off that helmet and greet your old friend.”

Erik took off the Helmet and shook his hair a bit. Charles could see how drawn his face was and the lines that were forming at the corners of his mouth.

Erik could see a ghostly outline of the man he once called brother. Dressed rather casually for Charles but it worked.

“Charles” he said rather formally “you look well.”

“Erik. You look terrible.”

“Well when the government is after you, sleep tends to go by the wayside. And you?”

“I wiped Moria’s memory of all of us so she can’t tell them what happened”

“A little severe for you Charles. Bravo. You’re learning.”

All of the sudden Charles head started to hurt a lot. He looked at Emma accusingly. She shrugged and said “You are doing it to yourself. I am doing nothing to you. Remember you can only stretch yourself so far.”

“Emma” came a warning tone from Erik.

“Not me. He’s projecting over a distance and that taxes the resources a lot. I am surprised he has been as stable as he has.”

“Charles, we can finish the conversation another day. I am not going to change your mind tonight nor are you going to change mine. Go home.”

And with that Erik put the Helmet back on.

Raven said “You better do what he says Charles.” And she turned her back on him.

Emma gave him a mental push and he found himself snapping back into his body rather suddenly.

He came to gasping for air like he had held his breath too long. His face felt wet. He touched it and found that he was having a nose bleed. ‘Great. Haven’t had one of those in years.’ He maneuvered himself to his chair and went to the bathroom to clean up. He grinned since Erik had given him an open invitation to visit again. He went back to bed and slept very deeply well into the morning.

Over the next couple of weeks Charles and Erik had many discussions. The chess board was brought out and Charles would give Erik his moves since he couldn’t move the pieces himself. Most mornings he came back to his body and another nosebleed and headache. He started medicating himself with some of the pain pills that the hospital had given him just in case.

He ‘sat’ down across from Erik at the chess board. Erik looked at him with concern.

“Charles, why haven’t you just come down here to Miami and talked to me?”

“I have a lot going on up at the mansion. This way I can be in two places at once.”

“Charles, you are looking worse each time you come here. Emma has told me that she thinks you are doing serious damage to your body each and every night. But it is like you don’t care. Is there something you aren’t tell me?”

Charles strengthened his shields against Emma. He didn’t want her or Erik to know the truth. He hated his body so much and wanted it to suffer.

Charles felt the beginnings of the usual blinding headache and he tried to put it back in his mind. Then he felt a new sensation of a tightening in his chest and a tingling down his left arm. Pain blinded every part of his body including his useless legs.

“Charles? Charles can you hear me?” He heard two voices saying the same thing but not quite at the same time.

“Alex” he heard “Alex get the crash cart out of the lab. Sean get an ambulance.”

“Azazel to me” he heard Erik say.

And then he heard nothing. He was just floating. Maybe he was dying. He really didn’t know nor did he care. Even in floating , he still couldn’t feel his legs and he thought that was unfair beyond measure. Then the pain started again sharp and clear. Charles gasped as he felt like his heart was being shocked. Then all was darkness again.

He opened his eyes slowly. He heard the beeping of a heart monitor. He felt oxygen mask on his face. He was in a hospital. But was this again or had he dreamed of going home.

“Sean, get the nurse” he heard Alex say. “He’s opening his eyes. Professor? Professor can you hear me?”

Charles tried to speak but failed so he slightly nodded his head. He tried to turn his head to get a look at Alex but it was strapped down.

“You were having seizures” said Alex “they did this to keep you from hurting yourself.”

The nurse came in and checked him over, “I’ll go get the Doctor she said.”

He heard footsteps and Sean’s voice, “I called Hank. So he knows the Professor is awake. Had he said anything?”

“Not yet.”

Then another voice that Charles didn’t know came into the room. Charles did a quick scan to see what he was dealing with. Human, cardiac specialist, family man, very honest was what he got.

“Ah Professor, I see you have decided to rejoin the land of the living.”

Charles croaked out a “what?”

“You had us seriously worried about you. You were lucky that they found you when they did. You had gone into full cardiac arrest. It took a bit to keep you around.”

Charles tried to raise his hand but it was secure to the bed frame. The Doctor and the Nurse unstrapped him so he could move a bit.

“Oxygen mask stays for a bit Professor Xavier. I want to make sure you don’t have a relapse.”

Charles turned his head slowly so he could see the people around him. He felt the concern radiating off of all of them. And from Sean he picked up that technically he had been dead for a while. Sean was angry at him and Alex rather disappointed. He probed a little further and saw from their point of view what had happened.

Hank had come into Charles’ bedroom to check on him since they hadn’t seen him all day. He found Charles convulsing in the bed and called out to Alex and Sean. They had kept him together and Hank had restarted his heart twice before the ambulance got there and Hank hid himself and his equipment in the bathroom while they got Charles out. He felt the out and out fear of losing him.

Then at the hospital where it was touch and go. Charles was severely dehydrated to the point that his body was trying to shut down on him but they kept fighting to save him. That was 2 weeks ago. And Alex and Sean hadn’t left his bedside unless forced to by the staff. He had other visitors. They snuck Hank in a couple of times to have him check on Charles. And there was the time they came in to find Erik and Azazel sitting there with Erik looking terrified and angry.

Charles projected to Alex and Sean ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what I was doing.’

Sean snorted in derision. Charles figured he deserved that.

Later that night they snuck Hank in again.

Hank looked him over and checked his chart.

“Well?”

“You gave a good go at trying to kill yourself but you failed” said Hank. “Honestly, Charles why didn’t you talk to us? To me? Erik told us what you have been up to and you should have listened to Emma. She knew what she was talking about.”

Charles heard a pop and smelled sulfur.

“I agree Charles, you should have listened to Emma on this” said Erik. He took off the Helmet as a sign of trust but Charles could see Azazel watching carefully.

“I don’t think you have to worry Azazel, I don’t think I could control a fly right now much less Erik.”

Hank said, “I’ll be outside if you need me” and climbed out the window.

Azazel popped out as well leaving the two men alone.

Erik pulled the metal chair over to him and sat down so he was at eye level with Charles.

“You couldn’t tell me?” he asked.

“You left before I could” said Charles “I didn’t figure it out until after you left.”

“You had plenty of opportunities since then Charles. This was childish and dangerous.”

Charles hated being chided and hated the pity that was radiating from his friend.

“I was fucking embarrassed and angry. You waltz away with my sister and I’ll never waltz again” growled Charles. “Look at me Erik. Look at me. I CAN’T WALK. I WILL NEVER WALK AGAIN. Do you even having an inkling of what happened to me? I can’t get up and go when I want and where I want. It is now a whole production to just get up in the fucking morning. I just want it to be what it was.” And Charles, much to his continued embarrassment, dissolved into tears.

He found himself gingerly engulfed in Erik’s arms. Who was holding him and saying things to try to make him feel better. That just let loose another tide of tears and anger. Erik held Charles as Charles just sobbed and raged at all that had happened to him.

Then it past and Charles felt a better than he had in a while. Erik put him back down and sat down next to him.

“Charles, I rarely ask anything of you but I ask this. Please stop trying to kill yourself. I know the world needs you here even with your issues.”

“But I wasn’t…”

Erik held up a hand, “I think we both know the real answer to that.” Azazel popped in with Emma and with a bamf, they were gone.

Hank came back in through the window, “He’s right Charles. I don’t care if you get therapy or what but you can’t do this to us again much less yourself.”

Charles looked at Hank and found out that Hank’s elevated hearing had heard the whole thing while he was on the roof. “I’ll never tell,” said Hank and he left the room.

Alex and Sean came in the next day to see the Professor sitting up and eating.

“Alex I am going to be happy to be going home soon if for nothing else, you at least know how to make a decent egg” he said with a disarming grin.

Both men breathed a sigh of relief. This was much more the Professor that they knew rather than the self-destructive man they had worried that he had become.

It would take time but Charles Xavier was determined to become Professor X again and help his fellow mutants find their place in the world.