(A/N) Well, seeing as how I've clearly tortured you all enough…
A Song of Steel and Fire
Chapter 10: Songs of Experience
The flight to Alkali Lake was deathly silent, each member of the team worried over some aspect of the mission or another. Charles' thoughts were only for his two boys, while Pele and Hank were both supremely concerned for his sanity. Mystique's thoughts were back in Westchester with Destiny, who was slipping into the overdue period. Artemis hadn't washed the blood from her body before suiting up. It was the first time she'd worn the uniform since being fitted for it. Her thoughts were focused on Azazel with a powerful thirst for his blood…and Alex's concern was only for her. Sean, last of all, was starting to worry that everyone else was just going to go stark raving on him.
"You really should have just left it to us," Hank finally said as they closed in on their target.
"You couldn't have stopped me and you know it," Charles said calmly, his gaze fixed straight ahead. He was barely recovered from his ordeals. He shouldn't have removed the bandaging from around his head, but he had done just that, leaving the still fresh injuries bare to the world.
Yeah, I know…and that's what scares me.
Charles caught some of this thought, as Hank had probably meant him to, but he didn't spare the energy to respond. Erik was close now…very close…and he could feel intense waves of panic flowing from him. He could feel the pain and the horror he felt and he could see the world through his eyes…could see the horror in their son's eyes as Shaw burned him.
Charles…hurry…please hurry.
I'm here, my love. I'm so close. Hold on just a little longer.
Charles was out of his seat before Hank had even properly finished landing the Blackbird. The others were only a little ways behind him, with Hank a little further behind after taking the time to properly lock down the jet.
Charles led the way through the woods toward the lake itself, which was dammed. Skirting the open field before the dam wall, they eventually found their way to a tunnel leading underground.
"Havok, if you wouldn't mind…" Charles said, standing aside to allow the young man a clear shot.
Alex said nothing, just stepped forward, took aim, and fired. If there was anything in the tunnel apart from the large, thick doors at the end of it, it was incinerated, The doors themselves were pretty well demolished. Almost immediately, an alarm began to blare.
"Well," Charles began casually as he led the way down, "if they didn't know we were here before, they certainly do now."
XxX
The downside to having a fully telepath-proof base, Emma was currently discovering, was that even if your telepathic enemy couldn't find you, you also couldn't find him if he actually got inside the place. They had all heard the explosion from the torture chamber, but once the group was inside, Emma lost sight of them completely, blocked by the walls of the base.
"A little warning wouldn't go amiss next time, Blindfold," Shaw said, his tone and demeanor seeming casual…but his true anger and frustration channeled into the ferocity with which he drove the latest brand into the small of Erik's back. The metal-kine couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped, but it came with a smile on his face.
"Come off it. It's not like you didn't want him here."
"I would have liked a little more time, though," he commented, digging the brand in deeper before finally removing it and going to replace it in the oven. Before retrieving another, he went to the table where a few unheated instruments still remained. Beside them sat the helmet, which he'd kept there all week. Sighing, he placed it back on his head. "Guess it's time for this silly thing to come back on."
"So what do you want to do?" Emma asked as the older mutant went for another red-hot knife.
"Leave me alone with them," he said nodding at Erik and the youngest Xavier. "Stop the others in whatever way you can. Only Charles must reach us here. I would prefer this final scene to take place with just the four of us."
As the other three disappeared to do his bidding, Erik couldn't help chuckling a little, despite how much pain he was in.
"You see? I told you he'd come."
"There was never any doubt of that. The question now becomes…can I awaken your boy's power before he gets here?"
Once again, Erik's gaze turned to his little boy, who was on his knees now, struggling not to look away. His eyes were red from crying and his face was wet with tears and snot.
"It's going to be all right, Eric. Daddy's coming. He's coming to save us."
"D-Daddy?"
"Ooh…I seriously doubt that."
At this, the sizzle of burning flesh and another cry of pain split the air, and Eric cried just a little harder.
XxX
Charles had only gotten a vague sense of where in the complex Erik and their son might be. Once they actually entered, he was completely shut off from Erik once again.
I might be able to help, Pele told him. These things tend to be laid out very similarly.
"Pele thinks she can help," he informed the others as he forged ahead into a maze of corridors. As Pele had said, the layout was already reminding him of the labyrinth beneath Auschwitz…what he remembered of it, at least. They seemed to be making good time when they found themselves moving through a slightly larger area…a generator room, perhaps…when Artemis suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
"He's here," she declared with absolute conviction, shoulders hunching slightly as she crouched a little lower.
Spreading out his mind, Charles found she was correct. Azazel had been waiting for them.
"You're taking care of it, yes?" he put the question succinctly to both her and Alex, to which both of them answered in the affirmative. As the group continued on, the two lovers moved to stand back to back, awaiting their opponent's attack.
First, he tried to disorient them by using the typical 'approach from different sides' tactic, but standing back to back, they were pretty well covered in that arena. When the teleporter dodged one of Alex's shots, the stray blast hit one of the generators and the lights went dark for several moments before a backup system kicked in, leaving them in an eerie half-light.
In the confusing moments when the backup lights were flickering on, Azazel appeared directly in front of Alex, sword drawn. He had mere seconds to see what was happening and to act. Feeling Artemis directly behind him, he pushed his hands back, shoving her clear. His cry of pain split the air as she hit the floor.
Artemis rolled onto her back, looking up to see Alex's shoulder impaled on Azazel's blade. With a shriek of rage, she leapt to her feet, focusing her power on the sword. When Azazel moved to pull it free, he found it cemented in place. Somewhere in her head, she heard a voice that sounded very much like Hank insisting she mustn't let the sword be pulled out.
Realizing her intentions, Azazel smirked at her, then whipped out his tail and wrapped it securely around Alex's throat, threatening to break his neck.
Artemis stood stark still, terrified that any movement might actually cause him to do it. Taking a moment to survey her enemy, she could see he was unsteady on his feet. The outline of a brace was visible just beneath his pant leg. Firestorm had probably broken something in her last act of defiance. The only reason he could probably fight them now was that he relied on his mutation so much to move around. The point being, though, that his attention was surely divided by pain. Perhaps there was a way to win this. She would have to be very specific about where she attacked, though. If she went for his heart and she didn't crush it fast enough, he would kill Alex.
"Stand down, girl…or I will kill the boy," he threatened, tightening his grip a little. Alex gave a small groan of pain.
"No…no, Rose. You have to…fight 'im," Alex choked out.
"No," she said to Azazel, her eyes sick with anger, but also piercing with focus. "You won't take him from me. Not him, too."
"And just what are you going to do about it, little wolf child?"
Rather than answer, Artemis focused her power on the place where Azazel's tail joined his body, her face twisting into a sneer as she tore with all her might. Before Azazel could even blink, his tail was ripped clean away from his body. Screaming in agony, he stumbled back, collapsing from the combination of his injured leg and the sudden lack of a tail to support him.
As Alex tumbled forward, Artemis swooped in to catch him, allowing her own weight to cushion his fall. Once she had him, she quickly unwrapped the now harmless limb from around his neck.
"It's okay. It's okay. I've got you."
"I will not forget this, wolf child!" Azazel snarled at her…and as she looked back at him, lying practically helpless on the floor, it wasn't so much the threat and the anger that got to her as it was the pain he couldn't quite manage to conceal. That was the impression she was left with when he finally vanished.
For a moment, she just sat there, staring at the tail and the smears of blood in shocked silence. It was the sound of Alex gasping for breath that drew her back to reality.
"Can you stand?" she asked tentatively.
"Maybe…if you help me. Breathing…kinda hurts," he admitted.
"Don't worry," she soothed as she helped him to his feet. "It's going to be all right. I'm going to get you back to the Blackbird. Then I'm going to find Hank. You're going to make it, Alex," she said, just as much for herself as for him.
XxX
The next obstacle the group came up against was Blindfold, who appeared almost as much from nowhere as Azazel was fond of doing.
"This one's mine," Mystique said decisively as she moved forward, waving the others on.
"You know you can't fight me," the blind mutant said as they slowly began to circle each other. "I can foresee any move you could make. Just what do you hope to accomplish?"
"Well, let's talk," Mystique said harshly. "What's going on between you and Destiny?"
"Ahah, jealous, are you?" she asked with a small laugh.
"What happened that day?"
"We are something that no one else can ever be for the other…a surprise. Perhaps Irene does love you, but you can never surprise her. She knows all the days of your life…every possible twist your journey might take. How does that make you feel, Raven?"
"She didn't ask for it. None of us asked for it. I've no right to hold it against her. She still…needs me."
Blindfold shook her head. "Keep telling yourself that."
"You were…talking about Kurt that day…weren't you. What's going to happen?"
"Well, that just wouldn't be very sporting of me, now would it. Are you really going to go behind your beloved's back like this?"
At this, Mystique sprang at the younger woman, seizing her by her throat and lifting her up in the air.
"I swear…if any of you…any of you hurt my son, I'll make you wish you were never born," she snarled at her, bringing her in close to her face.
"Oh, Raven…I don't need your help for that," she said cryptically, her voice only slightly altered by mystique's grip as she reached a hand down to stroke her cheek. "But no harm will come to your son. That's all you need to know. I could never harm him. He's like my own son, after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mystique hissed, squeezing a little tighter.
"You will understand someday…but in the meantime, there seems to be a hole in the fabric of reality approaching our present location."
For a moment, Mystique was confused…but then she began to understand, turning just in time to see Destiny enter the corridor.
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to stay back in Westchester. What if-"
Before Mystique could even begin to get angry or afraid, she collapsed to the floor, dead asleep. Blindfold slipped easily to her feet in the process.
"Was that really necessary?"
"Well, you wanted to speak with me, didn't you? Where's the fun in her hearing everything? Though…you really are starting to pop over there, aren't you."
Destiny groaned inwardly. She knew Blindfold couldn't possibly know that. She couldn't see her…and by that same token, she couldn't see Kurt yet, either. All she knew was that after tonight, Kurt would come into existence. The events of this night weren't perfectly clear to her, either. It was how she had known to sneak aboard the Blackbird. The lack of clarity told her one thing: she was to meet with Blindfold tonight…and here they were. The younger precog was right about the popping thing, though. Having delivered two children already, she knew the difference between false contractions and real ones. The real ones had begun about an hour into the flight. It wouldn't be long now before things began in earnest.
"That's my own business."
"Is there any such thing as 'your own' business, Irene? Our business is the world, after all…and that child is my business."
"You see?" Destiny pointed out. "Even you don't believe we're both completely dead. You claimed something as being 'your' business, too."
Blindfold sighed. "For a time, anyway. Perhaps we can skirt fate for a while…but some things are ultimately fixed. None of us have the power to fight with destiny."
"I don't believe that. I want…to change things."
"Yes, I know. You want to believe that anything can be changed…like you tried to do when you attempted to prevent the baby telepath's death. I should think you would have learned your lesson after that. You know what she would have become had she lived."
"I do."
"She would have become the black queen of the Hellfire Club in her father's place. Sebastian would have come to possess her and he would have molded her into a weapon greater than either Erik Lehnsherr or Charles Xavier."
"Yes…the Midnight Queen…the death of her parents."
"That would have been Raine Xavier's destiny. Fate keeps the balance; it didn't see fit to let such a darkness be born…yet you still tried to overturn that decision."
"You wouldn't understand. Who's to say her destiny couldn't have been changed?"
"We are. You saw it. No matter what route that child could have taken through her life…they all led to the same place…to the Midnight Queen."
"That doesn't matter. We all still loved her. She was still our little girl."
"But you still couldn't change any of it," Blindfold pointed out. "Your love couldn't prevent her death."
"Maybe it could have…if I'd tried sooner."
"Perhaps. I don't think so, but perhaps."
"Really? Because it seems to me you've done a few things to alter the events of tonight."
"Tonight's events are alterable…so I said a few things, did something earlier than might have been intended. After all, it would be such a waste to see him die too soon."
"And it wasn't a waste for her to die?"
"It's like I told you that first day. We are the only ones who can make these decisions."
Destiny was about to say more when another contraction seized her. As she leaned heavily against the wall, her face contorting in pain, she felt something warm and wet begin to trickle down her leg.
"Damn it."
"Water's broken, then? It won't be long now, I suppose. Much as I'd love to stick around for this, I believe Azazel's in need of some assistance. Good luck," she said casually, turning to walk away down the corridor. They had not gotten close enough to each other this time to go completely blind.
Once she heard a door close at the far end of the hallway, she sent Mystique a gentle command to wake up, even though she was feeling anything but gentle at the moment.
Mystique woke easily enough, blinking several times before her eyes focused in on Destiny.
"Where's Blindfold?"
"Gone."
"Why did you come?"
"Because I needed to speak to her. I had to know what would happen."
"Heh, can't go five minutes without knowing the whole truth anymore?" she asked as she sat up, her laughter slightly bitter.
Before she could respond, she hissed in pain, another contraction seizing her body.
"Oh," Mystique began slowly, her voice growing thick with worry. "Oh, no. It's starting now, isn't it."
"It's been coming on all day."
"And of course you didn't say anything," Mystique said as she got to her feet, moving in to allow her lover to lean on her.
"Didn't want you to worry."
"As usual," the shape shifter said with a sigh, beginning to lead the way out. "The others can handle themselves. I'm going to get you back to the jet. They are going to be okay…right?" she asked, glancing sideways at the older woman.
"I couldn't…I don't know. I can't see things clearly tonight…because Blindfold's here. I…I think they'll be okay…if I'm interpreting what she said correctly. Raven…I don't know what's going to happen tonight. I just know I don't want Kurt to be born in this place," she hissed as another contraction squeezed her abdomen.
"Don't worry. That's not going to happen," Mystique soothed as she moved steadily forward. "I'm getting you out of here."
XxX
Charles could honestly say he wasn't surprised when he and the boys ran into Emma not long after leaving Mystique with Blindfold.
"You guys go ahead. I got this," Sean said, sounding cockier than he had any right to be when face to face with Emma Frost.
"I don't think so," Emma said, turning her gaze to Charles. "Only you are going on past this point."
What you seek is just down this corridor and to the left, the first door on the right.
"No way," Hank argued, turning to Charles. "There is absolutely no way I'm letting you walk into that on your own."
"Now, Beast, don't forget," Charles began, not taking his eyes away from Emma, "I'm not alone."
Tilting her head curiously to the side, Emma took the opportunity to take a peek inside Charles' head, catching a brief glimpse of Pele.
"Oh…that is impressive," she said as she shifted into diamond form. "But we really can't have that."
That was the only warning they received before Emma tore into Charles' mind. He tried to push her back, but there wasn't a lot he could do against the diamond shield…and it wasn't even him she was after. He could feel Pele's pain as she was torn from his mind. He could have tried to hold onto her, but that probably would have done more harm than good in the end.
"What did you do to her?" Charles asked calmly, knowing he definitely couldn't afford to get angry right now.
"Put her back where she belongs. She's waking up in her own head right now. I said alone, didn't I? I meant it."
"Charles…no," Hank said as his mentor slowly turned to look at him. "What happens if you can't control it?"
"I have to. This is the only way."
I can do this…for them. I have to do this.
Looking torn for several minutes, Hank finally nodded. "Please…be careful. Don't lose it in there. They need you."
The 'we need you' in the statement was unsaid, but still understood.
Nodding, Charles moved past Emma, running silently down the hallway.
"Well, this could get interesting," Sean said as he and Hank moved into position to take on Emma.
"Sugar, you've got no idea."
XxX
Erik's hopes had been high when he'd heard the explosion, but they were fading quickly. The emergency lights didn't help when they flicked on. They made the whole thing look like a scene straight out of Hell.
At first, it was just brands and stabs, pain he was mostly familiar with, and he could keep the outward signs of pain to a minimum…but then Shaw wrapped an arm around his limp body, pulling him harshly against his own. Erik hissed in pain as his injuries ground against Shaw's unfeeling body.
"This isn't working. I think we might need to change tactics."
Erik couldn't look around to see what was happening, but he really didn't need to when a red-hot blade was laid over his eyelid and pressed down hard.
He couldn't stop himself from screaming this time. As he involuntarily attempted to twist away from the knife, he only caused it to slice the lid open. Even though the fiery brand cauterized the cut quickly, the vision of his left eye was still drowned in blood.
"PAPA!" Eric screamed.
"It…it's…all right…Eric. Alles…ist gut. Papa's going to be…fine," he choked out, even though he knew Eric could see the lie of it.
"Stop!" Eric cried. "Please! Please stop! Don't hurt – my papa!"
Shaking his head, Shaw went to grab Eric, pulling him harshly to his feet and dragging him around to look at the wounds on his father's back.
"Leave…leave him alone," Erik mumbled, struggling weakly against his bonds.
"You can stop this anytime you want to, Eric. I know you have the power. All you need to do is…embrace it," he said, emphasizing the words with a slash across the back of Erik's lower legs…not deep enough to cut the tendons, but enough to leave a mark. The metal-kine cringed in pain.
"What do you say? Are you going to let me keep hurting your papa?"
"Mister Shaw…I don't know what to do!" Eric sobbed helplessly. "What do you want me to do? I'll do anything!"
"Then show me your power," Shaw said quietly, his voice beginning to sound a little bit manic as he went to retrieve one last tool from the oven…what looked to be a large metal bar. He approached his victim slowly, positioning the bar carefully, and locking his eyes onto Eric's as he revealed just what it was for.
Erik outright shrieked as Shaw tore into him from behind. This was a thousand times worse than anything that had come before. He could feel his body tearing around the intruder…feel his insides searing with pain as Shaw twisted and thrust. Eric screamed in horror right along with him. When Shaw finally withdrew and he felt blood beginning to trickle down his thighs, he could almost swear he felt something inside of him breaking.
"Charles…where are you?" he whispered, no longer able to keep up the brave front. He had been reduced to something broken…a shattered man who only wanted the comfort of the man he loved. "We need you."
Shaw stared down at Eric for several minutes, trembling on the floor. Still nothing. What more could he possibly do to-
"Oh," he murmured, a light coming on in his head. "I think I know what to do for you, mein kleinen Eric."
With that, he twisted Erik around on his chains, bringing him to face his son. Then he pressed his lips to his creation's neck, biting down harshly on the abused skin. As Eric's eyes grew even more horrified, he slipped a hand between his legs…and began to stroke him.
Seeing this triggered something in the little boy. He remembered how sick and horrible this had made him feel…how it haunted his nightmares. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Papa. He just couldn't. It was at this that he felt something begin to stir beneath his skin.
"Stop it," he ordered, his voice feeling different in his throat. "You're not going to hurt Papa anymore."
"Yes," Shaw breathed tremulously, triumph lighting up his face as he watched the anger flare to life in the child's eyes.
"No," Erik whispered in despair when he saw his son's eyes go red. This couldn't happen now. It just couldn't. "Eric…no…"
"You're too late," Shaw whispered viciously in his ear. "You're too late."
Eric could feel something burning inside…boiling…ready to explode out from his skin. It was close now…so close…
"NO!"
As the voice sounded in his ears, Eric suddenly found himself tackled to the ground, held tightly in someone's arms.
"No, Eric…no…not like this," the familiar voice murmured in his ear. "Come back to me. Daddy's right here. Daddy's here to protect you, darling."
"D-Daddy?" he whispered, the tears beginning to flow again as he wrapped his arms tightly around his father and buried his face in his chest. Almost immediately, he felt the boiling in his skin begin to dissipate. Daddy had come at last. Everything would be all right now. He would stop the bad man from hurting Papa.
"Shh, shh," Charles soothed him as he held him close. "It's all right now. Everything's going to be all right. Oh, my boy…my baby boy," he said softly as he kissed the top of his head.
The others all watched the scene with decidedly mixed feelings. Erik watched with a relieved smile. He wasn't sure because of the burns, but he almost thought he could feel tears on his face. Shaw watched with uncertainty…uncertainty bordering on anger. Azazel and Blindfold appeared in the room not long after Charles, Azazel back on the crutch and with a new set of bandages.
"Well?" Shaw asked anxiously.
Blindfold surveyed the two, ultimately shaking her head. "He interrupted the process. The awakening has failed."
For a moment, Shaw looked absolutely livid…but then he somehow managed to swallow that anger and regain his composure. He gave his neck a swift crack and shook his shoulders. "Well, I know when I'm beaten. I suppose I ought to just bow out gracefully."
Charles felt a brief lick of anger flare up at this, but he didn't let Eric see it. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, he whispered to him, "Go to sleep, pumpkin. You'll be back in your own bed when you wake up."
Eric was already exhausted well past endurance. As such, he hardly noticed the psychic command. He placed his thumb securely in his mouth and fell into a deep sleep, sucking fitfully on the digit as he slept.
That done, Charles got to his feet, keeping himself solidly between Eric and Shaw. "That's it? After all that…that's all you're going to say?"
"Yes. Blindfold told me, in no uncertain terms, that if little Eric's mutation failed to manifest tonight, I would lose. Seeing what happened to him would have called out Onslaught once and for all…but you seem fairly well in control of yourself right now, wouldn't you say?"
Charles looked inward…and found he couldn't help but agree. While he did feel whispers of his anger beneath the surface, it was kept in check by the absolute certainty that Eric needed his daddy, and Erik needed Charles, not Onslaught. They both needed Charles right now, so that was what he would give them. He simply couldn't afford to selfishly indulge his own rage.
"I'll let you pick up the pieces for now, Charles, but you should know that next time…next time I won't let it go so easily."
"You will never touch them again," Charles spat at him.
"You misunderstand me. I wasn't talking about your son. His power is for someone else now. I was talking about you. One day you will be mine, Charles…one day. That is your fate," Shaw warned him, keeping eye contact with him as he backed slowly out of the cell, Blindfold and Azazel right behind him.
"I won't give in to you," Charles hissed at him just before he closed the door.
I won't give in. I won't give in, he repeated to himself several times, controlling his breathing and keeping his heart rate in check. When he was finally ready, he turned to face Erik. He'd avoided doing so throughout the confrontation, knowing that the sight of him would undoubtedly cause him to lose his inner battle with Onslaught…and indeed, he felt his rage flare up again when he saw how badly injured his lover was.
"It's…all right," Erik croaked, his voice hoarse from screaming. "Just stay calm. I've…probably looked worse."
"I…I seriously doubt that, darling," Charles said, smiling sadly as he felt tears gathering in his eyes.
"You're…later…than I would have liked," Erik teased as Charles drew closer to him. "What happened? Traffic that bad?"
Charles laughed, feeling the tears begin to fall as he worked to unlock Erik's chains. When he was finally free, he helped him gently to the floor, guiding him to rest on his knees while Charles held him in his arms.
"Don't worry about this. This is nothing," Erik said as Charles stroked his hair. "It'll heal. I'm more worried…about what it did to him," he said, nodding toward their sleeping child.
"He'll be fine," Charles soothed. "It'll take time…but we'll get through this…together."
Sighing, Erik rested his head against Charles' shoulder, nestling as close to him as he possibly could.
"I…I knew you'd come…mein Schatz…I knew it," he mumbled against his neck. Charles could almost swear he felt something inside him break at how feeble Erik's voice sounded.
For a long while, the two of them just knelt there, holding each other…perhaps crying, though neither would quite admit to it.
XxX
(A/N) And…one more chapter for this one, I think.