It's a Long Journey Home (Secret Santa for Spoo - XMFC - Erik)

[PuddinPop]

So, I got the wonderful, fantabulous Spoo for my Secret Santa this year

I had never actually seen X Men First Class until I knew I had you to write for, so I actually watched the entire film so that I could write you something

Honestly, I fell in love with it, so I was more than happy to attempt to write a little something for you.

I wrote this based on my interpretation of what should could have actually happened in one of my favourite scenes of the film!

I could have written a fandom that we were both familiar with, but I know that Michael Fassbender is one of your weaknesses so I hope you like this.

Also, just to add, I really don't write I apologise profusely if it's awful, because I couldn't write my way out of a paper bag, but I really hope you enjoy it! I tried to include as many of your preferences as I could!

So, in addition to the drawing of Shigure, I give you this!!!

I'll stop waffling now

It's a Long Journey Home

Hushed excitement buzzed silently throughout the taxi. The two young men in the back seat exchanged looks of contentment and anticipation. It had only been a couple of days since Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr had convinced the government to allow them to seek out fellow mutants. They were currently travelling a long journey to recruit another. All they knew about this one was that his name was Logan and his physical strength surpassed any of the mutants Charles had discovered telepathically. It would take them several hours to get to where he was, but Charles had felt the power that Logan was capable of, and they were anxious to have him as part of their group.

Moments before the CIA agreed to allow Charles and Erik to recruit the mutants, they were informed that Hank had created a telepathic transmitter, one that was designed to amplify brainwaves, therefore enhancing Charles’ powers and releasing them at a much greater range than he ever could have accomplished on his own. This meant that Charles could search for other mutants like themselves, and inform them that they were not alone. The prototype had been a success, and Charles and Erik has already summoned several mutants who had agreed to go with them to the covert CIA research base protected by the government. It had meant days of travelling for Charles and Erik, some of the mutants being great distances away. It had also been difficult to get the CIA to agree to let them obtain the mutants themselves, but with threats of both Charles and Erik leaving the base if they refused, they had little choice but to comply.

“If a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind. Charles and I find the mutants… no suits.”

Those were the humbling words spoken by Erik about the mutants that had given Charles the realization that he was right. They all agreed that the CIA would have no involvement in the recruitment, and Charles and Erik would act alone, travelling to gather the mutants and bringing them back to the base. This lead to the situation they were in now. They had already recruited Angel, Armando, Alex and Sean, and now they were making their way to talk to Logan.

It was a long drive, and the travelling of the past few days had really taken its toll on Erik. He had felt miserable since the previous morning, where he had awoken from a fitful sleep full of nightmares about his mother and Sebastian Shaw, feeling flushed, drained and weak. At first, he put his ill feeling down to a lack of sleep, but his condition had not improved as the day progressed. If anything, it had worsened by the next day. He now sat in the back of the car, sweat forming on his forehead, shivering slightly, a headache making its presence ever known in his temples, and that God awful itch deep in his sinuses that was ever present, occasionally resulting in an expulsion. He could no longer deny to himself that he was sick. Or at least becoming sick. Erik had tried so hard to hide it from Charles. Charles had been nothing but good to Erik since saving his life, and he didn’t wish to cause him any concern. That, and he didn’t want to let his hardened exterior appear weakened.

Charles sensed that something had not been right with Erik for some time. Erik had been acting more withdrawn than usual for about two days now. While it was his usual behavior to act subdued, there was just something different about him, something which Charles had been unable to pinpoint. Charles had probed into Erik’s mind without his knowing, coming to the realization that Erik was becoming ill. Of course, he could not let on that he knew. Charles did not wish to embarrass Erik, and possibly even more so, he didn’t want Erik to know that he had dove into his mind. Erik was trying so hard to hide it from Charles, and Charles didn’t wish to do anything that could compromise Erik’s presence at the base. He had threatened leaving before, and this was not a risk that Charles was willing to take again.

A sudden gasp from Erik brought Charles back to reality. Charles tried to subtly glance over to Erik, and saw him sat with his fingers pressed under his nose, his eyes tearing slightly. Erik’s eyes fluttered as another gasp escaped his lips. It was apparent from Erik’s actions that he was trying desperately to contain a sneeze. One final gasp escaped him, before his face relaxed and he sighed heavily, the feeling apparently having subsided.

Erik glanced over at Charles from the corners of his slightly teary eyes, holding his fingers under his nose as he did so, trying to hide the fact that his nose was now running. Erik could feel his nose was becoming increasingly congested and if he sniffed now, it would be certain to alert Charles of his condition. Charles finally looked directly at him with a certainty, a knowing. Does he know? Of course he knew, he had known since it began. Charles could read his mind, his thoughts, his feelings. His feelings.There was no way of hiding this. Erik averted his gaze and stared blankly out of the window, shivering slightly. He felt cold, despite it being 74 degrees in the car. He pulled his brown leather jacket around him tighter, when he felt the sharp itch reappear in his nose. Without thinking, Erik sniffed lightly, congestion blatantly apparent. He tried to will away the itch that was gradually intensifying. A sneeze was coming, edging it’s way further down his nose, gradually making its way down from the bridge to the tips of his nostrils. He pinched the bridge of his nose lightly between his knuckles, trying to hold back as long as he could. Erik knew that to sneeze now would give himself away completely. Erik never sneezed, unless he was sick. Not that he had said this to Charles, but Charles had the ability know these things. God, that itch. Erik was forced back to reality by his nose. The feeling became stronger, proving more difficult to hold back. Erik slid his fingers under his nose and pressed against the underside of his nostrils, trying to will the feeling into disappearing. It wasn’t working, and the feeling continued to expand throughout his nose, fanning its way down to the tip of his nostrils.

“Hhh… hehh…” Erik’s breath hitched as the feeling grew more intense. He could feel his nostrils flaring against his fingers, his chest expanding in preparation for the release. He tilted his head back involuntarily, his eyes closing.

“Hh’KNGX’uh! Hhh’TSCH’ew!”

Erik sneezed harshly, squashing his fingers under his nose, trying desperately to stifle. He almost succeeded, but they proved just too forceful.

“Bless you,” Charles said, eyebrow raised, staring at Erik suspiciously.

“Thank you,” Erik said, avoiding eye contact with Charles and sniffling softly. He daren’t look over and see Charles staring at him, knowing what he was going to say. He could feel what he was going to say. He was unsure if Charles was inside his head – Charles had promised to stay out of his head for the most part – but he somehow could feel Charles’ words, telling him that he knew. Erik kept his gaze out of the window, sniffling every now and again.

A few moments of almost silence passed. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft buzz of the passing traffic, and Erik’s infrequent sniffles, which were becoming wetter. Charles was silently taking in all of Erik’s actions. Erik was unaware that Charles had already felt what he felt, and knew how sick he was becoming. Then it was there again. That damned itch. Erik sniffed, harder this time, trying to will it away. It wasn’t working. The itch overcame his nose so quickly, he had little time to react.

“Huh’GNXT! ITSCSH! Hih’ETCHS’uuh!”

Three rapid fire sneezes escaped Erik so quickly he barely had time to cover. His head snapped forward, his body jerking, almost hitting his head on the headrest of the seat in front. The outburst had made him slightly dizzy and his head was spinning.

“Verdammte Scheiße…” Erik muttered under his breath, but of course, Charles heard it. Erik always cursed in German whenever something seriously frustrated him, almost spitting the words out. Erik sat back in his seat, wiping the moisture that the sneezes had caused from his eyes. His nose was now getting substantially stuffy; he thought briefly about wiping his nose on his leather jacket, but decided against it, and just went back to his usual habit of rubbing his fingers under his nose.

“You know I would have come without you.” Charles said sharply, looking over towards Erik.

“Hmm?” Erik just glanced back at him with slightly glassy eyes.

“I don’t need telepathy to know that you’re ill, Erik.”

“It is nothing. I’m hihh… I’m fine.” Erik’s voice faltered when a slight twinge surfaced in his nose, but then vanished as promptly as it had appeared. He returned to staring blankly out of the window. They both knew that neither of them could travel alone. These mutants were unpredictable, and they couldn't risk anything happening to either of them. As Erik stared out of the window, he hadn’t realized how exhausted he actually felt. His body felt noticeably weak and his face felt hot- too hot for his liking. He shivered again, feeling suddenly very cold, resting his warm face against the coolness of the window.

A short while later, Charles looked over to Erik and noticed he had fallen asleep against the window. Erik was rested with his lips slightly parted, heavy, congested breathing escaping them. Charles silently reached over and rested the back of his fingers against Erik’s cheek, then against his forehead. He didn’t feel hot, but there was a definite warmth. His pale complexion was flecked with colour, his skin feeling clammy, which all indicated that he had the beginnings of quite a substantial fever. It was unmistakable that Erik was sick. Charles needn’t have used his abilities to see this. Charles' eyebrows knitted into concern as he took a thin, crumpled napkin out of his pocket and dabbed at Erik's forehead with it. He looked around the back of the car, trying to find something that could cool Erik's temperature, but unfortunately, he found nothing. Charles' features softened as a husky gasp escaped Erik's lips. The older man coughed softly a few times and continued to breathe heavily, seemingly undisturbed. The days of travelling had run him down, and also that swim with the submarine couldn’t have done his immune system any favours. Charles would be glad when they had managed to recruit this mutant and head back to the base so Erik could rest. Charles knew that Erik would object to resting, but he always had his “magic tricks” to convince Erik to stay in bed for a day or two; Charles would be able to handle the new recruits on his own for a short time. He handled them mostly on his own at any rate, so Erik's absence for a few days would hardly even be noticeable.

Charles must have dozed off, as he was awoken by several harsh sounding, throat scraping sneezes.

“Hhh’KNGX’uh! Heh’GDZSSH-uhh! Hh’ITSCSH! Hh’ETCHS’uuh!”

“Bless you,” Charles said, startled. Erik just muttered “fur fickt willen,” under his breath and just continued sniffing wetly. Charles rummaged around in his pockets, finally producing another thin, crumpled napkin and handed it to Erik. Erik took it from him begrudgingly, and gave his nose a soft blow, failing to bring any sort of relief from the congestion in his nose.

“We’re almost there,” Charles said quietly, pressing his index and middle finger of his left hand against his temple. Erik let out a small sigh of relief. The sooner he could get out of this cramped taxi, the better. He had started feeling worse after he had woken up, his fever climbing higher and making him feel slightly dizzy. His head was throbbing dully, and his nose now so laden with congestion he could barely take any air through it. Then there was that itch. Again. No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to alleviate the urge to sneeze. It was constantly present, yet fluctuating somewhat. He felt the itch intensify and have given up trying to hold back, so he just tilted his head back slightly and waited for the inevitable.

“Hhh… heh… hihhh…”

Erik’s shoulders bounced up and down ever so slightly as his breath hitched quickly. The itch in his nose was now unbearable. He squinted his eyes shut, a tear starting to trickle slowly down his cheek. The feeling just kept growing more intense. He took one last gasp of air, feeling his nostrils flaring in preparation for the release and….. nothing. The itch slowly ebbed itself away, leaving just a slight tingle. Erik was left sitting with his eyes squinted shut, his lips parted and his hand hovering in front of his face. Erik heard Charles beside him start to chuckle slightly. He shot him a menacing look, but this just made Charles chuckle harder. It was hard for Erik to look menacing with glassy eyes, a fever-flushed face and lips parted, making his breathing shallow and ragged.

“We’re here,” Charles said cheerfully, taking his gaze away from Erik, still smirking from Erik’s performance and looked out of the window of the taxi. They had stopped outside a run-down looking bar. It looked like the kind of place that ruffians and cowboys drank at. It was actually surprising not to see a brawl outside. Erik stepped out of the car, squinting in the blinding sunlight. He felt dizzy for a moment, and placed his hand on the roof of the taxi to steady himself. Charles looked at him with concern, but Erik just held up his hand to indicate he just needed a minute.

“Is he inside?” Erik asked, his voice low and rough. He sniffed harshly, trying to break up some of the congestion before meeting Logan.

“Mmmm…” Charles murmured quietly, lost in thought for a moment. “Shall we go in?”

Erik just nodded and the pair started walking towards the frosted glass doors. They both wanted to get this over as quickly as possible. The dull ache in Erik’s temples had now turned into a persistent throbbing, and he was finding it difficult to contain his running nose. He must have looked pathetic. As they were walking, Erik felt that damned itch return in his nose. Of all the times.Charles was already making his way through the doors, so Erik had to jog to catch up to him. Erik pinched the bridge of his nose between the knuckles of his index and middle finger. This seemed to alleviate the feeling momentarily, and as the itch subsided, Erik sniffed and rubbed his knuckles under his nose. The pair made their way inside the bar. A thick canopy of smoke hovered above their heads, making Erik’s eyes tear up slightly. Under normal circumstances, the smoke wouldn’t have bothered Erik at all, but his sinuses were already irritated by the cold he was struggling with, and the smoke was just aggravating them further. Erik choked back his tears and sniffed gently. Charles didn’t notice – he had already seen who they were after.

At the counter sat a ferocious looking man, with jet black hair that resembled horns. Or possibly the pointed ears of an animal. As they approached, the man took his cigar from the ashtray on the counter. The smoke continued to wreak havoc on Erik’s sinuses and he felt the itch return again, this time with more intensity. He tried to keep his face calm, his nose twitching slightly from the irritation as he once again choked back tears. Aside from these signs, there was no indication on Erik’s face of the torture he was experiencing. The two mutants approached their target and stood behind him momentarily. Erik felt slightly weary again, so before Logan even had a chance to turn around, Erik placed one hand on the back of his chair and one on the counter to steady himself again, and said quickly:

“Excuse me, I’m Erik Lensherr.”

“Charles Xavier,” Charles said directly after Erik.

“Go fuck yourself.”

Their target didn’t even turn around to achknowledge his visitors, he just blew a cloud of cigar smoke around him and took a gulp of his whiskey. The smoke was blown directly up into Erik’s face, causing his breath to hitch again and a lone tear forming in the corner of his eyes. Charles looked at Erik quickly, and could see the potential situation, so decided it would be best not to pursue this particular individual. They both turned around to walk back out to the taxi. They almost made it to the door, when Erik’s nose had evidently given up on the losing battle:

“Hh’KNGXT! Hh’ETCHSH! Hh’ETCHSHH’uuh!”

Erik tried to stifle as hard as he could – the last thing he needed was drawing attention to them both, especially from this character – but ended up sneezing wetly into his fist just as they approached the door of the bar. Logan looked over his shoulder, startled by the outburst from Erik. He stared at the two men for a moment, before turning back around and finishing his drink.

As the two approached the taxi to go back to the base, they both couldn’t help but feeling completely deflated. If Charles felt deflated then Erik felt utterly miserable. This had been a complete waste of a journey, and a long journey at that.

“Home?” Charles sighed heavily as they both climbed into the back of the taxi.

“Sounds… ETCHSH!... fantastic.” Erik slumped into the seat beside Charles and prepared himself for the long journey back to the base.

I would also like to thank Blah-San for being my beta reader

Edited December 21, 2013 by PuddinPop

[Dusty15]

Such dedication, Puddin'! :-D It's a lovely fic and such a fun detail to add to something already in the film. I know she's gonna love it!!

[Spoo]

So when Dusty and purple messaged me, telling me my Secret Santa was up, I told them that I'd already seen it and commented. But then they said that you'd put up a FIC - an Erik one no less - and I went:

PUUUUUUDDINNNNNNN'!!!

I have no idea what you're talking about because this is AMAZINGLY written! It's so in-character, and ak;lsjdlfklsdfk you included everything that I love. I adored the descriptions and spellings aNDANDAND Erik trying to stay in control, but eventually succumbing because he just feels aaaawful.

I'm so happy. So, so, sooooo happy. This was everything I could have ever hoped for. You're brilliant and wonderful and I LOVE YOUUUUU!

[snuffles]

Now THIS is how that scene SHOULD have been written! I can no longer watch that part without this replaying in my head lol! Absolutely brilliant!