Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a relatively quiet and uneventful afternoon when Charles Xavier collapses in the middle of the kitchen.

The mansion’s bustling with activity, and the telepath can’t help but revel in the excited emotions wafting through the hallways. It’s an incredible step up from the feelings that being in this home used to stir up.

Raven and Angel are out chatting and taking a walk through the courtyard, Sean’s yelling raucous encouragements as Alex plays pinball, Erik’s out for his daily sprint, Hank’s down fussing with something in his lab, and Darwin’s milling about the kitchen.

Charles turns the corner and enters the kitchen, smiling as he sees the other man poke a head out from behind one of the open cabinets. “Afternoon.” He says, a bowl of some sort of liquid mixture in his hand.

“Good afternoon,” Charles says in return, taking a seat at the counter. “May I ask what you’re baking?”
The younger man beams. “It’s a muffin recipe I’ve been meaning to try, I hope the others like them.”

“I’m sure they’ll be delicious, Darwin.” He means to say more, but the sudden pang of an oncoming headache hits him full force. The brunette pinches the bridge of his nose, drawing a quick breath.

“You alright, professor?” He’s stepping towards him, face tilted in concern.

“Just a small headache, they tend to happen frequently. It’s nothing to worry about.”
The other mutant looks unconvinced for a moment, before he nods his head and sets about making the muffins again.

It shouldn’t be anything to worry about, using Cerebro gives him some killer migraines; it’s probably just some lingering effects. Or so he tells himself.

The two chat amiably for another ten minutes, mostly about future plans for the school. They’re both in full agreement on wanting to fill it with kids eager to learn how to control and utilize their powers. It’s something nice to think about after this whole mess with Shaw is put to rest.

Further conversation is cut short when the telepath is hit by a wave of nausea. His face contorts into something pained before he’s leaping off his seat and retching into the nearest trashcan. Darwin hovers, but gives the man some space; concern still coming off him in waves.
“Aw man, I hope you didn’t catch the stomach flu Sean had last week, it was bad. Maybe you should head back to bed, Professor.”
Charles finally lifts his head away from the trashcan, about to insist he might have accidentally consumed something Alex cooked last night when he’s hit with the worst headache pains he’s ever experienced. He slides to the floor with a pained wince, hands moving to clutch at his temples. It’s suddenly much too bright in the room.

Darwin’s the epitome of worry, kneeling down in front of him and unsure what to do. “Professor? Professor?!”

He unintentionally projects feelings of painconfusionpanic that manage to reach Erik; just as the man’s returned from his run and is entering the mansion through one of the back doors.

“Get Hank.” He grits out through clenched teeth, toppling over on his side a moment later.

Charles is normally a welcome presence in his mind, but when he’s hit with such raw emotion after his run; it nearly brings Erik to his knees. Once those feelings leave him, he’s back on his feet and climbing the stairs two at a time. Something terrible must have happened.

He has no idea where Charles is or what’s going on, but those questions are answered when he nearly collides with Armando in his haste to find the telepath.
“Erik! There’s something wrong with the professor. We were talking and he fell over----I have to get Hank.” The elder man isn’t about to argue, so he sends his fellow mutant on to complete his task while he darts into the kitchen.

The telepath is lying prone on the tiled floor, completely motionless. Erik falls to his side and grabs his face. “Charles, Charles, you need to wake up.”
It takes some effort, but bleary slits of blue blink open to stare up at him. “Erik,” It’s barely above a whisper. “I think there’s something wrong with my head.”

And just like that, he’s out of it again. This time, however, his loss of consciousness is followed by a very sudden and violent seizure. The magnetelekinetic looks on helplessly, just as Beast comes running in; Darwin right behind him.

Erik doesn’t so much as move as Hank gets to work, even as he’s shouting for someone to get a dish towel so he could lay it under the professor’s head. As painful as it was to watch, they’d have to let the seizure run its course. Darwin quickly slips a dishtowel into Beast’s claws, and the mutant dutifully ignores all other distractions.

“Charles? Can you hear me?” He produces a small light from his bag and shines it in the telepath’s eyes once the seizing has begun to stop. Alex and Sean appear in the doorway then, most likely having heard the commotion going on and wanting to investigate.
“What happened?” Sean squeaks, and Alex elbows him. “What do you think happened, dumbass? The professor’s sick or hurt...or something.” The blond looks unsure himself, and his emotions are so easy to read on his face. He’s worried, but they all are really.

Darwin steps away to try and usher them out the door, just to give Hank some more room to work. He spares a quick glance towards Erik, who’s grabbed on to Charles’ hand and looks like his whole world’s started to cave in.

The young doctor sits back on his haunches after a moment, looking utterly hopeless. “If I’m right about this, what’s wrong with him then…”

“What is it?” Erik snaps, never taking his eyes off the downed man beside him.

“I don’t have the equipment here to confirm a diagnosis, let alone treat him. It’d take too long for me to try and put something together. We’ll have to get him to a hospital.”

Hospitals. A place brimming with surgical tools and god knows what other horrors. And humans, worst of all. Humans who had no idea how to be gentle with a telepath, or how to properly take care of someone like Charles. “Absolutely not.”

“Erik, you don’t understand.” His tone was pleading, but firm.

The telepath stirred slightly, eyes an unfocused mess of color before they were closed again. It was unlikely he was even aware of what was going on.

The metal bender only grasped on to his hand tighter.

“If we don’t get him to a hospital soon, he’s going to die.”

Chapter Text

The thing about going into very public places when you’re a mutant is; that you have to keep everything about yourself on the down low. For the kids and Erik, it wasn’t much of a problem. Their mutations weren’t visible unless they were using their powers. All that was fine and dandy, until they remembered Hank. Big, blue, and fluffy Hank.

Everyone had been in a tizzy as they scrambled to the door, anxiously waiting for the paramedics to arrive. Against Erik’s wishes, Hank called 911, knowing that if his suspicions were confirmed; Charles would need medical care that only a hospital could provide.

With extreme ( and borderline aggressive ) coaxing from Raven and Alex, Erik had finally relinquished his spot at Charles’ side, allowing the medics to assess the situation. When it was decided that they’d take him to the hospital by ambulance and allow the family to follow did they realize their predicament. Hank had ducked away to the other room while the paramedics were there, not keen on explaining why he was a blue and fluffy beast. They couldn’t all just camp out in the hospital lobby with Hank looking like that.

Raven clicked her tongue, dashing away to the hallway. She returned moments later, a black fedora and large trenchcoat tucked under her arm. It would have to do, they all decided; as the scientist donned his disguise. Without any further issues, the group made their way to the car.

It was quite the scene, Erik stomping through the hospital hallway while flanked by a small group of worried teenagers. People glanced up, but one patented Lehnsherr death glare later; and everyone was ducking their heads and minding their business once again. The woman at the counter gave them all a pleasant smile, attention returning to her computer as Raven asked the condition of the patient they were there to see.

“He’s currently being prepped for surgery.”

“Surgery.” The eldest of them breathed, taking a step back.

“How serious is it?” Darwin inquired, asking the one thing everyone else was too afraid to.

“I’m afraid I can’t say without the head physician here, we’ll only receive updates on his condition once he’s out of surgery.”

It felt like all the air was sucked out of the room. The group’s expressions visibly faltered.
The nurse noticed that right away, quickly chiming in with something she hoped would help put their minds at ease. “I’ll have one of Dr. Michael’s surgical techs give you an update as soon as they can. In the meantime, if you’d like, coffee’s always served in the cafeteria down the hall.”

“Thanks.” Angel chimed in, the rest of the kids following her back to the waiting area to take their seats.
A brief period passed before two of them stood slowly.
Darwin was quiet when he spoke. ”Alex and I are gonna go look into this cafeteria coffee. We’ll bring some back for everyone, since it looks like it’s gonna be a long night. Anyone else want to come?”

Sean nodded his head, moving to stand. “Come get us if they tell you anything about the professor, yeah?”

Raven and Angel dipped their heads in acknowledgment.

With that, the trio was gone.

A long beat of silence passed before anyone even tried to speak. It was Hank, voice slightly muffled from him trying to speak under the lapels of his trench coat. “This is a nice hospital, he’s got a really good chance here.”

They’d returned with the coffee fairly quickly, passing cups around to everyone in the group. Raven offered one to Erik, only to be met with a half-hearted scowl. There was no time for coffee when he had an insane amount of worrying to do. The blonde rolled her eyes, practically shoving the cup into his hand.
“We’re all worried about him, okay? And since no one’s getting any sleep tonight, you’re going to need that. No one wants you to be even bitchier because you had no coffee or sleep.”

He was momentarily stunned by her bluntness, but ultimately gave into her demands. The metal bender took a tentative sip of the coffee, wondering if they’d accidentally poured him a cup of jet fuel instead. Nonetheless, he continued to drink it.

A gurney rushed by then, emergency medical technicians struggling to resuscitate a young brunette man as the shrill beep of the monitor indicated a flatline. All the kids visibly flinched as the small crowd of medics and patient disappeared behind the swinging operating room doors.

Sean spoke up hesitantly, just after the heart monitor noises were out of earshot. “The professor’s gonna be okay, right? What if he doesn’t-----”

The metal legs beneath all their chairs started to creak.

“Erik…” Angel whispered nervously, afraid to reach out and try to placate the older man. They couldn’t cause a scene; not here. The redhead looked at him fearfully, instantly regretting he’d said such a thing.

“He’s not going to die, dipshit.” Alex piped up, a confident edge to his voice. “He wouldn’t let something stupid like this do him in.”

That seemed to calm Magneto for the time being, as the loud creaking of the chairs ceased. Darwin reached out to clap a hand to the blond’s knee, leaning close so only he could hear. “Nice save, Alex.”

An uncomfortable silence settled over the group for another fifteen minutes.

It wasn’t until a surgical tech emerged from the OR wing that everyone was suddenly much more attentive. He walked in the direction of the group, so close to where Angel was sitting until-----he swerved at the last second and went straight towards a woman who had been sitting there and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief for the past hour. They didn’t have to hear the conversation to understand what happened. The woman fell to her knees mere moments after the tech spoke, harsh sobs leaving her lips. “No, no!” She wailed, as the tech mercifully tried to guide her to a more private location. “That’s my husband, he can’t be dead. We still have the kids to worry about, he wouldn’t leave me!”

Dread settled deeply in Erik’s stomach, and he looked away as she was escorted down the hospital corridor.

Charles? Can you hear me? He tried to reach out almost desperately, hoping the telepath might hear and let him know he was alright.

There wasn’t a response.