A/N Here's another oneshot, this is based on the prompt "forced to hurt someone." I hope you like it!
"Sean!" Alex burst into the holding cell the second it was clear. Sean and Hank had been missing for almost two weeks, and Alex was angry that it had taken the other X-Men this long to track them down. He was terrified that they would not still be alive, but Sean had gotten lucky and been able to make a distress call, albeit a very short one, a couple of days ago, and just hearing Sean's voice let Alex know that his boyfriend was alive.
Sure enough, when he entered the cell, Sean was there, wrists chained to the wall. He was badly beaten and his body was limp, but a quick assessment let Alex know that he was breathing. Alex rushed over to his boyfriend, carefully controlling his power to blast the chains restraining Sean, carefully catching Sean's body before he could entirely hit the floor.
"Baby, it's okay, I'm here," he whispered, putting his hand on Sean's cheek, silently begging the boy to open his eyes. "I'm here, you're safe."
"Go away!" Sean's eyes opened quickly and, as weak as he was, shot back from Alex's grip. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"Sean, baby, it's me," he whispered. "It's me…it's Alex."
"I know!" Sean pulled his knees to his chest, shaking as he did so. "Get away from me!"
"Baby…" Alex looked at the boy, but it didn't take long for him to realize that Sean's eyes were focused on the other corner of the cell. Alex followed Sean's glance, his own eyes widening as he saw what his boyfriend was staring at. Hank was crumpled up, a mass of blue fur and blood, on the ground. "Oh god..is he…"
"Dead," Sean stated.
"Oh no…" Alex put his hands over his mouth in horror, but as horrified as he was to see Hank's body like that, he couldn't suppress his feeling of relief that Sean was alright. "Look, Sean, it's gonna be okay, let's go." He walked over to Sean, putting his arms around the boy, but Sean screamed as soon as Alex touched him.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" He shot backwards again, and Alex sighed.
"Sean, baby, I have to get you out of here, I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly.
"No, but I might hurt you." Sean looked away.
"What?" Alex frowned. "Sean, what are you talking about?"
"Hank," he whispered. "I hurt him. I hurt him. A lot."
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
"They made me!" He whimpered. "They made us fight! They said they'd kill him if I didn't fight him!"
"Oh Sean…" Alex gulped. "Is that…is that how you got this?" He gently touched the large claw marks down Sean's chest.
"They wanted to see which of our mutations was more powerful." Sean whimpered.
"And…" Alex gulped. "They made you fight to the death?"
"No." Sean shook his head. "They…they killed him." He hung his head. "They found the radio I swiped and that…that was my punishment." He began to cry softly. "They killed him because of me."
"Oh baby…" Once again, Alex moved forwards, putting his arms around Sean. "You're not going to hurt me, okay? Those men are taken care of. This wasn't your fault, Sean, you have to realize that. If you hadn't radioed us, they would have eventually killed you both, maybe even made you kill each other."
"Just go away," he whispered.
"I can't do that." Alex shook his head, moving quickly and scooping Sean into his arms. "Just let me take you somewhere safe, please…"
"Fine." Sean was tired and injured, far too tired to fight Alex off anymore, and he was in too much pain.
"It's going to be okay," Alex whispered, walking from the building where the boys had been kept. He left the rest of his team to clean up the mess as he carried Sean with him to the jet. "I've got you, I'm going to take care of you, I promise." He tried to keep himself together as he held Sean's broken body. The boy was so gorgeous, so kind, so smart and incredible, and currently, so shattered. Alex hoped that he'd be okay soon, but as long as he blamed himself for Hank's death, there wasn't a shot in hell of that.
By the time they reached the jet, Sean was clinging to Alex, his face buried in the blonde's chest so that all Alex could really see of him was a mess of blood-matted orange hair. Even mangled and starved, however, he still found Sean beautiful. He set the boy gently into one of the seats and buckled him in, sitting right next to him, and taking his hand.
"I love you," Alex whispered, kissing the hand, blinking back tears as he looked into Sean's sad eyes. "I love you so much, and I know that it doesn't seem like it right now, but it's going to be okay, I promise. I'm here, and I'm not going to leave your side, not for anything."
"It's never going to be okay." Tears rolled down Sean's pale cheeks, though he wasn't making much noise at all. He looked so sad, and it was breaking Alex's heart to see him that way. "He's dead and it's my fault. I can't…I don't…"
"Shhh." Alex put his hand on Sean's tear-stained cheek. "Don't say that, it's not your fault, it's theirs, okay? You were kidnapped and tortured, it's not your fault." He reached up, raking his hands through Sean's hair. "Sleep, okay? Go to sleep. You look exhausted." Alex slowly talked to him for a few minutes before Sean fell asleep. He held his hand the entire flight back, and didn't leave, even as Sean was being looked after in the infirmary at the school.
"NO!" Sean screamed in his sleep. "PLEASE! NO!"
"Baby, wake up!" Alex shook Sean from where he sat in the chair next to his hospital bed.
"Please…please don't make me do that to him! I don't want to hurt him, he's my friend!" Sean began to writhe around on the bed, and Alex took his hand, squeezing it as he leaned in, kissing Sean, hoping that would wake him, and luckily, it worked. Sean sat up, grabbing Alex and clinging to him. "Don't leave me, please, don't leave me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I hurt him but I can't lose you too."
"It's okay, shh…" Alex rubbed Sean's back, kissing his forehead. "I'm not going to leave you, not now, not ever. I love you, Sean, and I know that this is hard for you." He leaned down, wiping some of Sean's tears away and kissing him gently. "Hold onto that, okay? That I love you and that I would never do anything to hurt you." He returned to rubbing Sean's back. "I love you," he said.
"I love you too." Sean sighed, burying his head in Alex's neck. He had never felt so vulnerable before in his life, not even when he had first run off on his own. He was scared and he was angry, mostly at himself, but Alex was there, and with the boy he loved so close, it was hard to miss the good in his life. It was going to be a hard road to recovery, but with Alex there to ease the pain, it would not be impossible.