Lots of dreamland, short bit of Texas stuff. Hope you don't mind.
The Perks of Being a Telepath
Chapter 36: A Twist of Events
Erik glanced anxiously at Charles.
"Are you sure you're up for this?"
The telepath shook his head.
"I don't have a choice. You need to be back in your own mind."
"That's not an answer, Charles."
"It's the only one I can give you right now, my friend."
Somehow, Charles had managed to get Onslaught back to the hospital. Erik wasn't entirely certain how it all happened, but now, Charles had a tentative grasp on his own mind, enough to do whatever he was planning on doing to get Erik back into his own mind.
Erik wasn't convinced this was the right idea. Scratch that—he knew it was the wrong idea. There was too much risk. Even if Charles succeeded, he would be left in a worse state than he was in right now, making him easy prey for Onslaught. And no matter how much Erik wanted to get back into his own mind, he didn't want to do it at the risk of his friend's life.
Charles had been told this on several occasions since he had told Erik his hare-brained scheme, but the telepath stubbornly refused to listen to reason.
Erik really didn't have a choice in the matter now.
They were perched at the edge of a vast abyss of darkness, surrounded by a thick cloud of fog. Erik didn't quite understand what was going on, only that in a few minutes, he would be back in his own mind.
Charles turned to Erik, looking simultaneously calm and anxious. It wasn't exactly a reassuring look.
"On my signal, jump."
Erik looked at Charles incredulously. Charles stared stonily back.
"Do you trust me?"
"You know I do."
"Then when I say jump, you jump. You're only going to have one chance to do this, Erik, so no matter what happens, you jump."
That sounded way too damn ominous for Erik's liking.
"What exactly is going to happen?"
Charles swallowed.
"With any luck, I'll be able to forge a connection with your mind and when you jump, you'll be jumping back into your own head. With a little help from me, of course."
"That's not what I meant, Charles. What's going to happen to you?"
Charles shook his head.
"Don't worry about me."
Dark laughter sounded nearby.
"You're so cute, Charlie!"
Erik could feel Charles tense beside him as Onslaught appeared out of the fog.
The darker half looked radically different than the last time Erik had seen him. When they had their first encounter, Onslaught looked the picture of perfect health, whereas Charles had looked like a gust of wind would do him in. Now, Onslaught looked drained and exhausted, with dark bags underneath his red-rimmed eyes and his hair falling in disarray. His clothes were torn, stained with what looked like blood and other things Erik didn't even want to think about.
Charles, on the other hand, looked stronger. He was still shockingly pale and bruised, but he no longer needed to rely on Erik to stand upright.
It gave Erik hope that maybe his friend would win this fight after all.
Onslaught stopped about a yard away from Erik and Charles, just at the edge of the abyss.
Charles slowly rose to his feet, his face carefully blank.
"Onslaught."
The other man shook his head.
"Do you honestly think this little plan of yours is going to work?"
"It's worth a shot."
Onslaught let out a laugh.
"Your unfailing optimism is heart-warming, Charlie. It's also pathetic."
Charles shrugged.
"That's what you make of it."
Onslaught folded his arms over his chest and studied Charles and Erik with a fascinated expression. When he spoke next, he addressed Erik.
"It's shocking, to say the least, that you favor this weaker version of myself over me."
Erik scowled.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Onslaught smiled and shook his head.
"I thought you'd be relieved, Erik! Finally, I believe the same things you do! I was going to help you take over the human race and put the rightful mutants in charge!"
Erik snorted.
"Well, locking me inside of your mind kind of puts a damper on our relationship."
Onslaught let out a loud laugh.
"You do have a sense of humor, I'll give you that. It's a shame that I'll have to kill you."
Charles interrupted before Erik had the chance to respond.
"You'll have to go through me, first."
Onslaught looked amused.
"Charlie, you remind me a lot of a homeless puppy. Adorable at first, fun to play with, but riddled with disease. Eventually, it becomes so sick that you have no choice but to put it down."
As he spoke, his genial expression slowly faded into a dark look that bordered on feral. His blue eyes were almost black with hate.
Charles didn't seemed phased by it.
"And you're like a rabid beast that needs to be put down before you infect someone else."
Onslaught cocked his head.
"Well, at least we agree on something, then."
Charles nodded.
"There is that."
They stood there for a moment, staring each other down. Then, suddenly, Onslaught was on his knees, clutching his head.
"Now, Erik!"
The metal bender barely had time to register what Charles had just said before he found himself being shoved sideways, into the abyss.
The last thing he heard was Charles, shouting out in pain, before everything went dark.
Charles refused to so much as even look at Erik as they made their way through the police station, which was saying a lot, seeing as the only reason why the telepath was upright was because Erik was practically carrying him.
Clearly, Charles had lost his forgiving nature when he lost his ability to walk after Cuba.
Erik wasn't going to apologize for what he believed in, nor did he expect Charles to truly want one. It wasn't as though this difference of opinion was news to either one of them.
Though Erik had hoped that after everything with Shaw and the CIA, and recent events, Charles might be less willing to stand by the humans' blind hatred of the mutants.
They were almost out of the police station when Charles abruptly stopped. Erik looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"What?"
The telepath shook his head, rubbing his temples.
"I'm not really sure. I thought I just…"
He trailed off with a violent tremble. All of Erik's misgivings about their difference of opinion vanished instantly.
"Charles? What's wrong?"
Before the shorter man could respond, the door to the police station opened, revealing three police officers leading a dark haired man of medium height.
Charles froze, his fingers falling from his temples. The dark haired man looked over at them, his brown eyes widening in shock as they locked onto the telepath.
Charles shuddered again.
"Cain."