round 3 overflow post
Dec. 18th, 2011 05:18 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xmenfirstkinkThis post is for Round 3 fills only. We ask that when a round hits 8500 comments, fillers begin moving their fills to this post.
Format:
SUBJECT LINE -- Round #, short description of fic (ex: "Alex/Hank, lab partners")
--- Link to the prompt
--- Text of the prompt
--- Link to the fill
OR
--- Entire text of the fill
EXAMPLE:
Prompt: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=1038472#t2038174
Charles/Erik -- Charles is a bakery owner whose most frequent customer is Erik.
Fill: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=0139482#t4502942
Charles started off the morning the same way he always did...
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Heat - Part 36a
Date: 2012-10-08 05:28 pm (UTC)This still isn't the last part (I'm beginning to wonder if that will ever turn up!) but it's close. As I have said before, this ending took a completely different turn to the one I had initially (vaguely) imagined, so please bear with me, and I hope you like it!
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Erik woke two days later to find himself in what appeared to be a hospital room. He blinked, confused for a minute, before his memory caught up to him. For the barest moment he was filled with euphoria at the thought of Shaw’s demise at his hands, but then the memory of Charles’s pale, unresponsive features crashed down on him. Expression suddenly taut and full of worry, he made a move to pull himself out of bed when he finally caught sight of the person sitting close to him.
‘Bonjour, Erik,’ Remy said calmly, putting down the newspaper he had been reading. ‘I am glad you are finally awake.’
Erik felt himself almost unconsciously relax, a small smile crossing his face despite himself.
‘Hello, Gambit,’ he said evenly. ‘It’s good to see you.’
‘Naturallement,’ Remy shrugged easily. ‘I thought it would be good for you, to wake up to my handsome face. You are welcome, of course.’
Erik grunted, pushing himself forward so that he was sat up properly. His efforts were made difficult by the fact that his arm was in a sling and his ribs, though bandaged and tended to, still hurt even through the numbness of the medication that had been administered to him.
‘Where are we, Remy?’ he asked, when he was finally in position.
‘Mexico,’ Remy replied immediately. ‘Somewhere safe.’
Erik nodded, taking Remy’s word for it. He swallowed.
‘And-’ he paused, hesitant. ‘And – Charles?’
Remy regarded him narrowly, his expression not giving anything away, well aware that Erik’s fists were beginning to clench with each second’s delay.
‘He is here also,’ he said at last. ‘I thought it wise to bring him along when I found you.’
There was an opening there for Erik to ask more about just how Remy had found him, but for once he didn’t care about the details. He wanted to know about Charles.
‘How is he?’ he asked urgently, ignoring his body’s warning as he leaned towards Remy, tense. ‘Is he – is he okay?’
Remy sent him another measuring glance.
‘Oui,’ he said quietly, and Erik sank back into the bed, relieved, before Remy continued. ‘He is okay. Physically, at least, he is fine.’
That, of course, immediately caused Erik to tense up again.
‘What do you mean?’ he demanded, his eyes narrowed and his heart beating fast. ‘Is he - Has he not-’
‘When I found the two of you,’ Remy said loudly, talking over Erik, ‘you were both unconscious. I assumed that the both of you were suffering from wounded exhaustion and had you both brought here so that you could recover.’ He paused. When he next spoke, his words were careful. ‘It has been three days, mon cher. You awoke shortly after we found you, and had to be sedated. Since then you have been medicated and have drifted in and out of consciousness, in between operations. You had several broken ribs, a fractured skull, a broken arm, a fractured leg and several other wounds and contusions of varying severity. But you pulled through,’ he said, giving Erik a strangely fond smile. ‘You always do, n’est-ce pas?’
But Erik wasn’t to be put off.
‘And Charles?’ he asked warily.
Remy sighed and ran a hand through his thick red hair.
‘He never woke up,’ he said bluntly, staring straight into Erik’s eyes. ‘The doctors don’t know what is wrong with him or how to fix it. They are not even sure if he will ever recover.’
Erik closed his eyes and turned away. All his self-recriminations from before returned tenfold and he cursed himself for allowing Charles to hurt himself in that way, despite not having known what would happen.
He cursed himself even more when he found that he wasn’t at all certain whether he would have given up his chance to kill Shaw in order to have stopped Charles even if he had known.
Heat - Part 36b
Date: 2012-10-08 05:33 pm (UTC)‘So he’s unconscious,’ he said after a moment, forcing himself to turn back to Remy who was regarding him with something akin to pity.
‘Oui,’ Remy said simply.
‘And he’s – you’ve heard nothing?’ Erik couldn’t help asking.
Remy frowned slightly.
‘I do not understand,’ he said after a moment. ‘Heard what?’
Erik sighed.
‘He’s a telepath, Remy,’ he said quietly. ‘Charles is – was – I don’t know – a telepath.’ And then he told Remy the story of what had happened and how he had managed to defeat Shaw.
Remy sucked in a breath as Erik spoke, but his expression was thoughtful by the time the story ended.
‘I see,’ he said at last. ‘Well … it is understandable, I suppose. And maybe, it is a good thing.’
Erik’s head shot up and he glared at Remy.
‘Oh?’ he asked, his tone dangerous.
Remy seemed to cotton onto this, as he quickly shook his head.
‘Not the way you think, mon ami. I am merely saying that such a retreat into one’s head is … perhaps the expected response after such an experience.’
Erik did not seem entirely convinced.
‘And why did you say it was good?’ he persisted, eyeing Remy suspiciously.
Remy shrugged.
‘Because perhaps it is under your Charles’s control,’ he said easily, causing Erik to start and look at Remy with wide eyes.
‘You – you mean you think that his coma is … voluntary?’ he demanded.
Remy shrugged.
‘I couldn’t say,’ he said apologetically. ‘But there is the chance, non? That he used it as some sort of defence mechanism?’
‘I suppose …’ Erik said slowly.
‘And if so, it means that he can get himself out of it, oui?’
‘Yes, but,’ Erik frowned, ‘if he can then why doesn’t he?’
Remy blinked before raising his shoulders in a very Gallic shrug.
‘I couldn’t say, mon cher,’ he said honestly. ‘Maybe he doesn’t know how. Maybe he doesn’t know it’s safe. Maybe-’ he hesitated. ‘Maybe he doesn’t want to.’
Erik had to force himself not to react negatively to that last suggestion. For all he knew, it could be the truth.
‘In the end,’ Remy continued with a sad shake of the head, ‘only your Charles can say.’
And that, Erik thought grimly to himself, was precisely the problem.
*
Re: Heat - Part 36b
Date: 2012-10-09 03:41 am (UTC)Re: Heat - Part 36b
Date: 2012-10-27 03:21 pm (UTC)