xmenfirstkink | round 3 overflow post

If the child Charles carried was a mutant, Erik's life would be as complete as it had ever been.

Towards the eighth month of Charles's pregnancy, Erik came across him and another omega -- a mutant girl -- talking quietly in the library. The door was slightly ajar and they hadn't seen him, absorbed in their conversation, and Erik was admittedly curious.

"If there's one similarity between humans and mutants, it's this business with alphas and omegas," Charles was saying. "You needn't worry so much, my dear. What you-- we learned as children still applies, even when the alpha in question is a pyrokinetic mutant."

"I'm afraid," the girl said in a small voice. "I mean, I know she loves me -- she does! -- and she's really good to me, but you hear stories and I don't know what I'll do if she. You know."

"Yes, I know," Charles said. Erik frowned. Was Charles's telepathy active? No, the collar was still on.

"At least she agreed that we could use birth control for a few years, until things get better around here." The girl was wringing her hands, tearing a wad of tissues into pieces. "I hate that I can't just say no. What if she becomes someone like Daddy's alpha? It's just. Sometimes I'm still not entirely comfortable."

"It's best that you talk to her about this. She's a good person, and one of the better alphas I've met." Charles lapsed into silence. "I haven't had the best of luck with alphas. Please don't ever let yourself use this, but I've learned over the years that fantasies of, um, that is, sexual fantasies -- well, they help make it easier, when... your respective desires don't align, so to speak."

The girl sucked in a breath.

Charles squeezed her hands. "In a perfect world, we would never have to speak about it like this. But I'm afraid the world is far from perfect, at least for now. What helps, my dear, is that you're not alone. You know where to go to for help, don't you?"

Erik resisted the urge to smash through the door and demand that Charles explain himself, even as the girl nodded, smiling the luminous smile that Erik had seen on a hundred mutant faces, all directed at Charles.

------------------------------------------

"Does Charles find me attractive?" Erik said to Mystique, over their daily debriefing.

She leveled a flat stare at him. "You are a terrible conversationalist."

"If you can resist from passing judgment on my personality traits, answer the question."

"I don't think it matters," she said, kicking back in her chair. "Look, I can't explain it very well, but Charles is different, after Shaw. He really did a number on Charles -- I really wish you hadn't claimed him when you did, though I suppose you suit his needs well enough. If he had a list of 'qualities in alphas I want to mate with', desirability is so far down the list, it's not funny. It might be better, actually, if he doesn't find you fuckable."

"That's nonsense," he said. "Besides, Charles was Shaw's omega, not his lab rat."

Mystique tossed down a folder. "You know as well as I do that matings don't always happen on rose petals after being ordained by romantic fate. You should've treated Charles the way you would any mutant subject you found in Shaw's lab. You're going to regret not having done it, sooner or later."

Erik drifted towards one of the tall windows, looking down at the grounds. Below him, Charles sat surrounded by a ring of mutants of all ages, hanging on to his every word. There seemed to be more of them by the day, Erik thought.

"He's not going to raise an army against me, Mystique."

"Sure," she said. "But what will you do if he never loves you back?"

END

I really love this anon. I find myself crying for Charles and hoping that he somehow gets himself free of this cycle so that he can take care of his baby and be happy. I also find my self angry at Erik for obvious reasons and for Raven, I feel like she kind of sees what is happening and is just accepting it, she sees how unhappy her brother is and yet refuses to really go to the extreme to save him :(
I hope you continue this soon!!!!

See below. :)

I know you write "this is it," so I won't grovel and plead for continuation. At least, not until I review the entirety.

I think the chilly realism of Charles' mood & actions is matched by the fantastic imagery you use to describe him. Erik realizing that behind those beautiful blue eyes lurks an unfathomable power ... brrr. Being (deep at heart, really!) the schmoopbeastie that I am, I desperately want them to find some way of working things out, to have a child together and be happy. My brain was cycling through ways to do this: Erik has a dead!mom!related nightmare, and the equivalent to the Rage & Serenity menorah memory finding occurs! In Bed! That would fix things! And then they live happily ever after, right? RIGHT?

Except this is one 'verse in which I can see the two leads having a formidable alliance, but overwhelming love only on one side. Charles does seem so traumatized that the happily ever after ... seems distant, in terms of realism.

... which makes me want to curl up in a corner and sniffle. But that's OK!

In sum: this is great, I really *really* want to know what will happen with the child (my desperate-for-a-happy-ending brain has come up with a scenario in which post-nightmare!Erik growls to Charles: "You really think I would kill a child? My own child?" and Charles is all: zuh? o___O. OR SOMETHING.)

So, because I want to know, I wish there were a way of bribing you to continue. But if that's it, that's it, so in sum: thanks so much for this!

And the dubcon was deliciously dark. Purrr.

SPEAKING OF UNFATHOMABLE POWER. Uh. This will almost certainly not answer your questions, but... have a little something?

The baby is dreaming.

Charles tucks his head against the crook of his arm, sinking into the sofa cushions and the primal brain of his child, careful not to reach too deep. He'd been dreadfully afraid the last time too, of possibly damaging the brain -- he doesn't know if he's the first telepath to be carrying a pregnancy to this stage (he doubts it), but there is a distinct paucity of information on the effects of telepathy on prenatal development. Sebastian's interest in pursuing its research died with his human child, leaving Charles with memories and unaswered doubts.

His hand drifts down to stroke his belly. The movement catches Erik's attention, and for a moment Charles sees himself through Erik's eyes: pale and fragile, tucked under a knitted blanket. Erik's possessiveness crests like a wave, washing around Charles's ankles. He feels himself tensing in wary anticipation, but after a few seconds of indecision Erik decides not to get up from his desk and cross the room to touch Charles. He relaxes.

Interesting, that Erik's ardour hasn't cooled with Charles's pregnancy. Sebastian was much the same -- near the end, he was always around, finding excuses to touch Charles everywhere. Charles shudders. There isn't much room to run, when one is imprisoned in a cell of mirrors. He wonders if there's a correlation between unusually possessive alpha behaviour and convictions based on misinformed beliefs about biological determinism and genetics. Possibly, if one could prove that the alpha in question is driven by a perceived need to ensure the perpetuation and protection of his or her superior genetic material.

Charles carefully unclenches his jaw. By the thirty-fifth week of his pregnancy, he'll be able to tell if the child he's carrying is a mutant. God, poor David. Charles would gladly trade all his knowledge for David's return, and for to never have had that moment of revelation when he woke up from surgery with a scar and a body shocked at its emptiness. Charles remembers everything, from the first day Sebastian pricked his skin with a needle to the surge of hope he'd felt when the Brotherhood broke into Sebastian's labs.

He thinks of baby names. Perhaps he ought to ask his students for suggestions. There aren't many opportunities for reflection anymore, with the sudden swell in the number of mutants on Genosha. He could think about it while Erik got on with fucking him, he supposes. Unless Charles is actively resisting, Erik doesn't care what Charles is or isn't thinking/feeling/doing in bed.

Well. That's unfair. Erik cares the same way many alphas do: vaguely, with no real conviction of doing the right thing. Erik will never ask Charles why he always wants the lights on when Erik is on top of him. Why Charles never sleeps through the night. Whether Charles likes to be touched, whether Charles wants it slow, if he just wants to held. If his skin crawls under Erik's mouth, on bad nights when Charles looks at Erik and remembers Sebastian's face, how at the apex of his heat Sebastian made him beg to have his mouth and arse stuffed with cock. Erik will never ask Charles for permission.

It's not so bad when he's ready for it, though. Easy enough to play his favourite fantasies in his head on good days, and detach himself on bad days. There are moments now when the light hits Erik's eyes just right, or when his smile catches Charles at the right time, that Charles feels a flash of desire. Perhaps one day it won't be accompanied by sick disgust at himself.

Charles rubs the blanket between his fingers, thinking. There's more at stake here than the question as to whether his child is a mutant: will she be an alpha or an omega? He doesn't think his daughter will be a rare beta -- he has a feeling she might be an omega, which means he'll have to accelerate his plans.

Don't worry, he thought. You'll grow up in a world where omegas hold the reins of power. Just buy me a little more time.

Wow, this universe just got really, really dark.

UGH YOU TEASE!!! lol, this is wonderful!!! I was reading this and thinking "shit just got real" I am love that Charles is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his baby and other omegas...I really really really hope you continue. Well Done Anon :)

FUCK. YES.

You say this universe just got dark? I say this universe just got awesome. BAMF!Charles is my favorite.

This is the anon from below, who commented about Erik needing a clue and Mystique not having perspective and suchlike. And then I responded to your response, BEFORE seeing this fantastic snippet here. FUCK. YES. Charles, you kick Erik's entitled ASS.

I love the universe you created and in my head, Charles did raise an army against Erik and they won! Great job! I'll be thinking about this verse for days!

Uhm.. you should really continue this and show Erik to fucking see what the fuck is going on and treat Charles better

I usually dislike a/o fills but you've built a universe for it. I love this story. It's dark and brewing revolution with Charles at its head. Just....oh this is beautiful.

I realized that I never replied to this amazing continuation. ALL MY SHAME.

... seriously. It's fantastic. I love the imagery, I love Charles' plottiness ... and I feel so unsettled by the memories of his trauma. In the A/O 'verse, with dubcon setups, I find unhappy/angsty endings quite convincing. So this, with its dubcon and Erik just *assuming* and taking because that's all that's ever been - this is chilling and awesome. Especially since Charles is planning to burn down the whole system. Go Charles!

Also, from 'En Passant' - additional confirmation of how much the system sucks:

---

Charles lowered his eyes and began shedding his shapeless, baggy clothes in a tidy heap on the floor. Erik paused, watching him. He typically put on layers of clothing despite the Genoshan heat, but went to bed nude, ready for Erik. It was vaguely dissatisfying, in a way -- Erik never had the pleasure of unwrapping Charles, never had cause to linger overmuch with foreplay.

---

I'm interpreting Charles' baggy, shapeless clothes as a 'don't-look-at-me, I'm-traumatized' red flag. And that makes it "vaguely dissatisfying," Erik? omg ALL MY ANGER.

Oh wait! There's more anger, and it's connected to:

---

"What's wrong with him? We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary."

Mystique stroked Charles's hair back from his face. "Maybe it was having to force his way into Levine's mind," she said. "He wouldn't do something like that normally. It might've been different if he was born an alpha, but Charles always had this thing about ethics and consent."

She started rubbing Charles's shoulders -- trying to warm him, Erik saw. "Anyway, how did you convince him to do it? Also, ugh, fucking zip up, no one needs to see you hanging out like that."

---

"This thing about ethics and consent" - and the most disturbing part of the whole situation being Erik's cock hanging out. When Erik was just going about raping her brother, nothing "out of the ordinary" - ARGH my HATE for both of them!

... which tells you that the 'verse is v. convincing, yes? Thanks again so much for writing it.

Oh man, I seriously hope someone picks up your invitation to write more of this, as I would love to see Erik finally getting a fucking clue. You are treating him just like Shaw did, Erik.

Mystique is very interesting here -- upset on her brother's behalf, protective of him, but also missing a few vital pieces of perspective due to the fact that she is herself an alpha and not an omega.

I LOVED Charles conversation with the other omega. It really highlighted some wretched aspects of this world.

Also, and it wasn't clear in the first story, but they are on Genosha? As in, the country that Erik rules and makes the laws for. As in, he's the one responsible for the law that says omegas are the property of their alphas. BRRRR.

Other readers have called for a happy ending, with a Charles and Erik reconcilliation, but I say FUCK THAT. This Erik doesn't deserve Charles. I just want Charles to find sanctuary elsewhere -- maybe on Muir Island -- and raise his kid and put his life back together.

Yes, they're on Genosha. I couldn't find a way to shoehorn it into the fic without resorting to an infodump, but in my head, Erik's Brotherhood is at a point where they're beginning to transition from a militant organisation into a government. Insofar that Erik is ruling Genosha, it's really more out of a lack of any other contender than anything else -- the mutants had pushed out the non-mutant inhabitants, but they haven't actually gotten around to creating an actual nation-state.

My take on the alpha-omega dynamics in this fic was extrapolated from the prompt: law or no law, the tradition of alphas "owning" omegas is pretty much ingrained culturally, to a lesser or greater extent depending on where you are. Erik could've laid down a rule fully emancipating mutant omegas on Genosha, but... he didn't. He never even thought about it. Hence Charles being gently mocking/bitter about Erik's ideology: hurray for mutant supremacy or whatever, but from where he's standing, there's not much difference between "humans" and mutants -- genetically and culturally. Certainly not where omegas are concerned.

You've nailed it re: Mystique. I like to think that when the chips are down, she'll side with Charles, but she hasn't been pushed to that point just yet. Right now, to her it's all about Charles and what he specifically went through, but she doesn't see that if the way this world works isn't so stacked against omegas, Charles might never be so damaged in the first place.

Erik could've laid down a rule fully emancipating mutant omegas on Genosha, but... he didn't. He never even thought about it.

OUCH. Poor Charles.

Someone posted a prompt about a D/s verse where the subs had all risen up in revolution and formed their own country. I find myself hoping that something similar happens in this universe down the line.

I may try to shake loose a plotbunny myself, but I do hope someone picks this up.

DA

Oh god I thought that too! This fic is like, a terrifying prelude to that segregation. And even without a fill I've seen OP and other anons tossing around a few solid ideas for other prompt's world building as well. Of course my mind is automatically combining both prompts into a giant dark dystopia. I can see this Erik banging on the Wall demanding his omega (sub w/other prompt) back, but I doubt this Charles will yield. Their epic love will have to wait a few generations and one reincarnation to work.

(but how do they reproduce, separated like that? Omegas using artificial insermination using their own sperm, and alphas straight out cloning? Shit that's ground for genetic memory/generation xerox, if I ever seen one.)

(deleted comment)

No need to apologise, really -- I've been known to lose track of prompts I've left in various kinkmemes, so definitely no stones to throw there. ^^

I did ask myself "how much does Charles trust Raven with his plans?" as I was writing En Passant, and the answer seems to be: not very much. And I think to Charles that's almost the most horrible aspect of it all, that he can't fully trust the person he loves most in the world (aside from his children), and whom he knows loves him best.

In my head, on some level Erik senses there's something terribly wrong about what's going on between him and Charles, but it never occurs to him to do something about it because he hasn't even begun articulating it as a problem. Well, what else does Charles expect? And of course Erik is nothing like Shaw. And anyway there are more important things to be done, like the liberation of his fellow mutants. Erik loves Charles because Charles is beautiful, a powerful mutant, the bearer of his child, and maybe also because Charles is his, and thus -- despite Erik's wariness about Charles's telepathy -- will never be a rival for his position as a mutant leader.

When Charles presented him with the plan to pass a human child off as Shaw's, if Erik had come right out and said no, don't be stupid, any child of mine will be acknowledged or loved, things would be completely different. Even towards the end of the story, if Erik had only asked "may I?", with every expectation that he would respect Charles's choice, there would still be a slightly bigger chance of their relationship working out. But, well, that's not very likely now, is it? I mean, he doesn't even want to acknowledge the possibility that the mutants at the CIA facility could be there for any other reasons that what he thought.

I, uh, doubt I'll ever de-anon. I'm honestly happy being anonymous, ahahaha.

Oh, quite, quite dark. I really felt for how alone Charles felt in this story, despite having Raven (whom he really isn't sharing his plans with anyway). At least his child will decrease his loneliness.

And I just kept thinking that Erik was so stupid - partly not his fault because many of his reactions as an alpha were so culturally ingrained. It didn't occur for his to think in this and that manner.

I also loved the little snippet where the child is dreaming and Charles is being BAMF and plotting how to make omegas the top of the food chain.

Wow. This was breathtaking. This world is very wrong in a very believable way and I agree with the commenters above that I can't see a future in which Erik and Charles are happy together. Maybe alongside each other. I do wonder how Charles will combine his plans for the future with Genosha and Erik.
And while I have no doubt he'll achieve what he sets out to do but at the same time I just really wish Charles had someone whom he could open up to, who actually takes some of his burden off him.

Also, I was wondering whether you filled any other prompts on the kink meme (or, you know, anywhere)? You really got me hooked on your writing and I would love to read more.

In any case, thank you for sharing this.

This is so beautiful. And sad. And, just, egahg!

*wibble* this Charles will never be happy in the position he is in. if only Erik had said, I won't kill any child of mine, then maybe there could have been a slight possible chance of peace.

oh man the fact that it ends THERE just kills me. This has been so well written and you've built such a wonderfully twisted and dark universe that I really REALLY wanna read more!!! It breaks my heart how both Erik and Charles are attracted to each other but their fundamental beliefs are what tears them apart in the end (my chest literally tightens each time they have a disagreement). Erik is a stubborn bastard but I feel for him during the moments when he sees Charles happy because it's somewhat of a realization for him.

This is my happy ending-obsessed side speaking but I hope that somehow Erik and Charles can reconcile their differences for their babeh. It's highly unlikely but damn it I can dream

I read this before you continued it and did the sequel and now I'm happy I came back. This is an amazing story. Not going to ask that you continue this even though I would love it, but I do want to thank you for an awesome read. I also love how Charles doesn't love Erik and how Erik doesn't understand Charles' perspective. There so much realism in this story.

round 3 overflow post

En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)

Re: En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)

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Anon!author

Oops, forgot to put a warning. The snippet above has DUBCON and NONCON references

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Re: En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)

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Re: En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)

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Re: En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)

Re: En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)

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Re: En Passant 7/7 (Charles/Erik, Charles/Shaw, omegaverse AU, warning: dubcon)