AN (please read) : So this story was inspired by brilcrist's amazing drawing
(Remove spaces)
browse. deviantart ? order=9&q= charles+ erik& offset=144 #/d4 qnauj
Charles Xavier sat nervously in his seat on the personnel carrier. His fingers knotted in the coarse fabric of his standard issue trousers. The carrier bounced slightly as it hit turbulence and Charles gritted his teeth.
"Calm down mate," Charles turned to his left to see James "Logan" Howlett looking over at him. "There's no need to be nervous. We'll run out first, deal with the jerries then you and your friends come in take care of any scratches. Easy."
The call came for the paratroopers to ready for the jump and the Australian ex-pat smiled and clapped Charles on the shoulder. "See you later."
Charles gripped the nylon netting behind his head as the doors were slid open and cold air blasted into the interior of the carrier. The cool wind whipped his hair out of its previously smoothed down position and made his eyes water as he watched Logan jump out of the plane with a loud whoop. The carrier continued on as the paratroopers leaped out and drifted down to the ground like petals. Charles caught the faint sound of gunfire as the doors were yanked closed. The carrier circled for what seemed like an eternity before a call came through on the radio saying it was safe to land. The plane touched down on the short landing strip of the SS head quarters. It rolled to a stop and the ten members of the airborne medic crew unstrapped themselves and grabbed their gear. "The signal for help is two shots in quick succession." The commander called. "Spread out, don't go past the perimeter."
Charles jogged past the main building into the small yard in the back, his feet crunching on the fresh snow. His head whipped around. One soldier had his arm slung over another's shoulder and was slowly limping in the direction of the landing strip. Charles jogged over to them and saw that the soldier's knee was bent to the side at an unnatural angle and the other was supporting him on that side. "Give this to him when you get back on the carrier." He handed a syringe of morphine to the supporting soldier who nodded as he resumed his course. Charles stood in the middle of the yard, slowly turning. He was about to leave when he heard a faint groaning off to his right. Charles strode over and found an SS officer lying with his head resting against a fallen tree branch. The right side of the officer's uniform was stained with blood, turning the white braid hanging on his uniform a dark crimson. Charles knelt down to examine a head wound that was trickling blood down the left side of the officer's face. His right hand was brushed against the officer's abdominal wound as he slid his arm around the man's shoulder to lift him into his lap. The officer's eyes jolted open and his right hand flew up to grip Charles' cheek.
"Please!" He rasped in accented English as a small trickle of blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth. "Please, it's not what you think, I'm not like them!" His hand fell from Charles' face, smearing blood down his cheek, as he lost consciousness and his head fell to the side. Charles unholstered his gun and pointed it to the side and quickly fired two shots. Smoke curled up from his gun as Logan stepped in front of him, still holding the claws he used for hand-to-hand combat.
"So, you also found a live one." Logan stowed the claws in two leather pouches at his hips. "Christopher and Andrew also found two. We'll take them back to the base for questioning." Logan knelt down and scooped the SS officer up in his arms. He stood and cocked his head towards the landing strip as Charles rose. "Let's go." The two of them walked back to the plane in silence. Charles pulled himself into the carrier and cradled the officer's head as Logan lifted him into the carrier. The doors slammed closed and Logan called out, "That's everyone." He sank to the floor with a cross between a groan and a sigh. "So, we get back to the base in Hastings take these three," He gestured to the other two SS members in the carrier. "to the hospital, get 'em better then question 'em."
Charles shrugged and reached into his bag and pulled out a bandage. He turned to Logan. "Yes, I suppose so. Can you hold his head?" Logan reached out and held the officer's head as Charles wrapped a bandage around the wound in his side.
"So, What happened to this guy?"
Charles secured the bandage around the officer's abdomen. "This is probably a gunshot wound. I didn't get a good look at his head, but it looked like he was hit."
Logan nodded and hooked a finger under the chain around the officer's neck. He gently tugged the dog tags out from under the officer's uniform and held them up to the light. "Commander Erik Lehnsherr. So," He looked back at Charles. "What do you think we'll get out of him?"
Charles shrugged. "I'm not sure."
Erik slowly opened his eyes. It took them a second to adjust to the white of the empty hospital ward. His gaze landed on the British flag in the corner and he started to hyper ventilate. Erik started to sit up, but a hand pressed gently down on his chest and pushed him back down into the pillows. "Easy, my friend, easy. We're not going to hurt you." Erik looked to his left to see the man sitting beside him. The man smiled. "Glad to see you're awake. My names Charles Xavier." He held out a hand.
Erik shook it gingerly. "Erik Lehnsherr." He looked down at the bandages that were faintly visible beneath the white hospital shirt he was wearing and released Charles' hand to feel the bandage wrapped tightly around his temple. "What happened? Why am I here?"
Charles' eyebrows knitted together. "You mean you don't know?" Erik shook his head. "There was a paratrooper strike on the compound you were at. You and two others were recovered and brought back here."
Charles explained. "I found you in the back of the compound on the ground."
"Charles!" He turned around to see Hank McCoy motioning him over.
Charles turned back to Erik. "Just a moment." He stood and walked over to Hank, who lead him into the hallway outside of the ward. "What is it?"
Hank held a file with a bullet in a plastic bag stapled to the corner. "Two things. First of all, we had munitions look over the bullet you removed from Lehnsherr's abdomen." Hank opened to the first page. "Its from a Walther PPK."
Charles looked up at Hank. "But that's a German gun, isn't it? Why would they shoot one of their own elite officers?"
"This might explain why." Hank flipped the page to show Charles the paper Erik had carried to prove his lineage.
Charles traced a finger over the word printed in red ink in the center. "Unecht?"
"It means fake or artificial. We had some people from counter intelligence look over it. This is a fake document. Erik Lehnsherr isn't who he says he is."
Charles took the lineage document and walked back to Erik. He sat in the chair next to the bed and set the document in Erik's lap. "Would you like to explain that?"
Erik sighed and began to speak in an English accent instead of the German one he had used before. "It's true. I don't have pure German heritage. I'm part of a special operations unit from London. I was sent to infiltrate
German high command then report back. We made contact with a forger inside of Germany who was able to get me the right paperwork. But a week ago they found him." Erik's jaw gritted. "They tortured him. Made him tell them every person he'd ever helped. My name was on the list. The officer in charge of the division was called and told." Erik rested his hand lightly on the paper. I had this in my coat pocket when they shot me."
Charles nodded and gestured to the bandage wrapped around his head. "And do you remember how that happened?"
Erik smirked. "One of the bastards kicked me." He turned and genuinely smiled at Charles. "But to tell the truth, I was reaching the end of my rope, so I guess its better that I got out."
Charles rested his hand on Erik's. "Well you're safe here."
Erik groaned and pushed himself into a higher sitting position. "What time is it?"
"Almost six. Are you hungry?" Erik shook his head. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"A book would be nice."
Charles nodded as he stood. "Any specifics?" Erik shook his head again. "I'll be back."
He though someone had screamed. Charles opened his eyes to find one of his reference books splayed open below his head. He slowly lifted his torso back and groaned as he stretched. He jolted as he heard an earsplitting scream and jumped up. He ran out of his office to the wing of the hospital that was empty save Erik.
He stepped through the doorway to find the man thrashing wildly in sheets that were tangled around him. Charles sat on the side of the bed and grabbed Erik's wrists. "Erik!"
"No! Let me go! Please I'm sorry please."
"Erik!" Charles yelled. "Its me you're safe!"
Erik looked up at him with tear stained eyes and Charles pulled him into a tight embrace. "Its ok." He soothed, while running a hand gently over Erik's back. "I'm right here. No one will hurt you."
An: Its summer right now so I only take a couple of classes. There should be another chapter soon.
