Disclaimer: I do not own x-men first class. If i did...well, there would be a LOT more slash. Just sayin'.
A/N: Enjoy.
The air seemed to have gone cold, the gravity heavy and more possessive than it ever had been. Charles' heart was pounding, bashing against his ribs to escape its bony confinements, his blood racing to reach his head first before any new form of oxygen could. It was getting harder and harder to even think clearly, his mind icy cold and growing numb. He leaned more fully against Erik, and Raven's eyes darted to him and then to the woman with blonde hair like spun gold linked arm and arm with Shaw. She was staring ahead at Charles, gaze persistent and unwavering. Raven stepped forward then, descending the stairs to the crumbled lot, Charles reaching out to pull her back. His fingers graced the flush fullness of her cheek, and his eyes widened at the sudden contact. He had not meant to read her thoughts by touch, didn't mean to understand all that was her by caressing her cheek in a manner to slow down her stride, but he had and his body went rigid. Erik noticed and called out, Raven not slowing her stride. Hank stepped forward, hesitantly and stricken with a panicked fear as Shaw eyed her predatorily.
"Raven, wait!" Hank's voice struck Raven and she tore her eyes from the ice blonde, up to where Hank was situated on the stairs. "What are you doing? They'll kill you!" She clicked her tongue in frustration, staring into Hank's wide brown eyes. It struck her then: he cared. She pointed sharply over to Emma, finger shaking in rage as her eyes darted from Hank, to Charles, to the woman and back again.
"She's doing something to Charles, Hank!" Everyone followed her finger but Emma's concentration remained heavy. Charles felt a stinging pain and flinched, groaning as the feeling escalated throughout his body. Erik snarled, shifting Charles' so he was supporting him with one arm, while his other began to manipulate the metal of the cars, window frames, street lamps, and abandoned guns around him. A gun to his right he shot off in Emma's direction, the bullet whizzing near her head, her concentration breaking and Charles' let out a wavering sigh of relief. The bullet was about a hairs width away from her eye, when she frosted over, diamonds of hard jewels dusting every frame of her voluptuous body. They sparkled rainbow in the rising light of the sun, sending shards of colorful bright around her. Erik kept the bullet drilling, the diamond cracking slightly under the sudden pressure, and Emma hissed and jumped back, the bullet shooting down and embedding itself completely in the ground. Raven's head snapped up and she shot Erik an appreciative grin. Charles just breathed, something he was deprived of with Emma in his head, and he staggered to stand up straight. He held out his hand and Raven took it, making her way back up the stairs and taking her spot by Hank.
"They do care for you Charles." Shaw chirped, the grin wide on his face as he stepped forward, the red man following his movements with precise transfixion.
"You are Shaw? You created the labs?" Sebastian stopped near the steps; heat surrounding Alex in a swift furry of warmth. Erik's grip tightened on Charles and he stepped forward, shifting so that Charles' was standing behind him.
"What the fuck do you want with him?" Shaw's eyes left Charles' unwillingly, and he turned his now cold gaze to Erik. His smile grew sinister.
"Ah, Erik Lensherr." His head cocked to the side as his eyes swept calculating around the group, though they soon darted back to Erik. "You were one of my best." Erik bristled, the metal singing in his veins to kill, to kill this man before him and end it. Who was he to deny his power? The black asphalt cracked up, spider webbing in all directions as rusted metal pipes flung forward, water bursting forth from the unpressurized leaks of steel. Shaw didn't move as a pipe swung fiercely toward him, just lifted up his hand and as the pipe drew nearer it busted into a fountain of murky fluid. Emma stilled, stunned and anxious, her diamond form dusting off and her regular pale iced skin melted back in. It was then, in that moment of stunned, unintimidating silence, that Raven darted forward, her hand bashing unceremoniously into Emma's jaw. The blonde mutant's teeth rattled together, clipped off the edge of her pink loose tongue, and she fell backwards, head smashing against the black littered ground.
Raven move!
Charles' voice echoed around in Raven's mind and she darted to her left, a red man appearing where she would have been, spiked tail piercing the asphalt where she once stood.
Watch Azazel, Raven! He can teleport.
Azazel was gone in that déjà vu puff of smoke of red and black, and Raven only heard the snapping sound behind her before she felt something press her back and knock the wind from her face. She turned, seeing Azazel's red form fly high and then poof away in mid-air, appearing again to lift Emma to her feet. Hank stood back to back to Raven, who was smiling at him like a weeping love struck goon. Hank's feet were exposed, the muscles in his raised arm rippling with a beast like strength, and Alex and Sean began to make their way toward the trio. Erik was aching to go, aching to tear off Emma's pretty little head, but the water had cleared and Shaw stood tall, hand raised emanating a type of heat that could only be described as pulsating energy. Charles wobbled slightly on his feet, the chilling presence returning once more, and the added heat coming towards him made him feel extremely nauseous. He let out a pained groan, collapsing to his knees. He felt Erik's hands slip from him like butter, and he wondered for a fleeting moment if even this man couldn't catch him when he fell. He was wrong of course, as Erik's fingers locked onto his shoulders and shook him, the metal wielder's voice sounding as though it was underwater.
"Pathetic, Erik." Shaw clicked his tongue in disapproval, lowering his hand as he saw Charles' eyes close. He flashed a smile to Emma, who was being hauled up by Azazel's strong crimson arms. She returned it weakly, blood slipping from her cracked once perfect white teeth. Erik's eyes narrowed, his blood boiling in his ears.
"What the hell did you do?" Shaw's attention returned and his smile turned like the icy his partner carried in her voice.
"It's weak, Erik. To protect that mutant so preciously." Erik just grimaced.
"You're a mutant."
"I am."
"You made the camps to imprison your own kind? WHY?" Shaw clicked his tongue, eyes darting down to where Erik was holding Charles' tightly against his chest.
"For starters, let's release the telepath." All Sebastian needed to do was lift his hand and a beam of light shot out, pure internal energy and when it touched Erik's chest he couldn't help but scream. It felt as though his flesh was being zapped away…
Emma shifted again, running at Raven with a speed both women didn't realize the other held. Alex moved to attack but Azazel was behind him before he could, arms wrapping around his neck attempting to teleport him away. Sean screamed out, his voice echoing profusely radiant through the air and Azazel could only manage to zap him and Alex halfway through the air before the sound waves made them both fall. Emma's diamond rough hand made Raven's brain rattle against the confinements of her skull, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she stumbled, her vision going black and dizzy. She collapsed on the ground, her shoulder blades scraping the ground, and her head bashed hard against it. She could hear Emma stalking dangerously forward, could hear the clinking of diamonds on the stone. So she did the obvious thing: she shifted into the shape of Emma. The woman froze, staring unbelieving at herself, before her eyes narrowed and she transferred her mind into Raven's. The shape shifter's form shifted and her blue self showed through. Hank was behind Emma before she could see him move, and his hands around her neck were like the claws of a beast. His nails scraped across the slick layer of jeweled skin. With Emma's concentration broken Raven gasped back into herself, the blue fading from her skin but the yellow remaing dominant in her eyes. She spat the blood from her mouth and with Hank they slammed Emma into the ground, the diamond's shattering dust and vibrant colors like the rainbow snow. Emma's eyes slipped closed, the blue loosing their deep sheen, and her diamond form cracked off, exposing her human self once more. Blood escaped her mouth and nose, a gash deep burgundy on her forehead.
Raven couldn't help but laugh, a deep rich one as her head began to swim, and she spat again, a tooth clambering out and clinking hauntingly on the black cement. She gasped, hand flying up as a dull numbing throb came over her jaw.
"Damn…" She snarled, foot coming out and kicking against Emma's head, her nose snapping off and lopsided to the side. Hank licked his lips as he dried his sweat-coated palms on his pants, walking up and wrapping his arm around Raven's shoulders.
"How hard did she hit you?" He questioned but she just slumped down, eyes slipping closed as a thin line of bright scarlet trickled like a tear between her closed dry lips. Hank just held her close.
Erik's back skidded across the stone, and he gritted his teeth as he collided into a nearby wall, mind not working clear enough to make the metal in the pipes below slow his crash. The pleasant buzz that was Charles was absent from his mind. His heart felt as though it had stopped because of it. With a groan he rose to his feet, his knees weak but he'd be damned if Shaw saw this.
"I don't think you should be moving." Shaw muttered, walking up the stairs to Charles' collapsed form.
"Emma's certainly good at her job, don't you think Lensherr?" Erik just saw red, bright angry, murderous red.
"Get away from him." Shaw just smiled, kneeling down beside Charles' limp body. One of Sebastian's hands reached out, tucking a strand of Charles' chestnut hair behind his ear. With a snarl Erik raced forward, calling forth the metal railing behind Shaw and as it coiled and began to wrap around this mass murder's throat Erik felt his body grow impossibly hot, and he fell, hands breaking his tumble so his chin wouldn't smash open against the cement. As a result the wire fell, and Shaw slipped his head out from under it. He let out a pitied chuckle.
"You don't seem to realize the situation your in, Erik. The energy I snapped you with," Shaw's head rose up and he let out an ear splitting whistle before pointing an accusing finger at Erik. "…Is still in you. Which means, I can control you. So just lie still for a while longer." Azazel appeared then, Emma in his arms and Erik saw from the corner of his eye Hank carrying Raven and Sean supporting a bleeding Alex.
"Azazel, let's go. I'll take Emma, you take the telepath." Erik's eyes widened and he swore his heart stopped. A cold sweat broke out across his skin and his stomach churned like a wheel was speeding along inside him.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" He roared, and he struggled to raise his head, his hand, his anything, but whenever he tried an excruciating heat broke out and he just let out a pained growl. Azazel's dirty blood covered hands scooped up Charles and flung him carelessly over his shoulder, as Shaw held Emma like a broken doll against him. Sebastian looked out one last time over the lot, before smiling and in a puff of red and black smoke he, Emma, Azazel, and Charles were gone.
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