I Die Often Hank

Chapter 49

Erik's POV:

A few minutes earlier

I ran over as soon as I saw Charles start to collapse. I crouched down beside him and by the look on his face, I could tell he straining to use his powers. He was grimacing in pain and practically biting his tongue off trying not to scream. I protected him from outside harm while he did his thing. Then it happened, he went limp in my arms. I frantically pressed my fingers to his neck to check for a pulse, but there wasn't one. I looked around in haste, but I couldn't spot her.

"Crimson! CRIMSON! Please..."

The others heard my calls and came over, but she wasn't with them. They all stared down in horror and remained frozen.

"Where is she?! Where is Crimson?!"

"We can't find her, Erik"

"No, no, no, not both of them, NO!"

I heard movement and shifted my body to protect Charles. I saw Crimson and she stood behind that bastard with her knife against his neck. She looked around and her eyes settled on Charles. Why wasn't she killing Andrew? Why wasn't she helping Charles? The rest of the group had noticed Crimson and turned to watch. I mentally cheered her on. Kill him Crimson. Kill the bastard. He killed Alex, he killed me, and he killed Charles. Put him in the ground. This sorry excuse of a man deserves to be murdered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scott start to pull his glasses off. Looks like I'm not the only one who wants a shot at this fucker. Then Crimson called out to him. She told him not to do it. Not to kill him. She's gonna let him live? NO! Scott continued to pull his glasses off and Hank tackled him and they fought on the ground.

I looked at Crimson again with the knife sitting gently against that bastard's neck. I looked down at my dead husband. If she won't kill him, then I will. I raised my hand up as a single tear escaped my eyes. I moved the knife, still in her tight grasp to slit that fucker's throat. Blood poured out of his throat and his body went limp. It was over.

I watched in horror as Crimson's face contorted into one of pure unbridled rage. She rushed over to Charles and took his hand. She focused her efforts, but his time not on happy memories. She was quite literally shaking with rage. Her rage is justified, that asshole killed three of us and tried to kill all of us, including the children. She checked his pulse before standing up and looking me dead in the eyes with a death stare. She marched up to me and punched me right in the face.

"FUCK YOU!"

She screamed in my face. I stumbled backward in shock. DID SHE JUST HIT ME? I looked up and she was moving in to hit me again, I froze in fear. Warren and Hank rushed over and grabbed her arms and pulled her away. She stared at me again and screamed at me again.

"I HATE YOU!"

I felt my heart shatter. She hates me? No. I can't have her hate me. I can't lose her. Aside from my husband, she is the person who matters most to me; but now she hates me. I looked up and she passed out in Warren and Hank's arms. I whispered quiet enough that no one could hear.

"What have I done?"

Hank's POV:

I adjusted to help support Crimson's now limp body. I scooped her up in my arms and looked at Warren.

"I've got her, but I think Charles could use some help"

"Be careful"

That's odd. I didn't know Warren had emotions other than anger. I left the others to deal with the fallen helicopters and soldiers' bodies, while I carried Crimson inside. I can't exactly take her to the medbay, the kids would get suspicious. I guess I'll just take her up to our room then. I looked down at her and noticed that much like myself, she was covered in blood.

Once I got up to our room I tried to in the most respectful way remove her fighting clothes and thankfully her regular clothes were clean underneath. I tossed the bloody clothes in the hamper and pulled my own fighting clothes off. I focused and shifted out of my beast form. I picked up my glasses from the bedside table and walked into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and holy shit I looked awful. I turned the tap on and washed the blood off my face and arms. Alright, no open wounds, that's a win. I made an effort to fix my hair and decided I looked good enough.

Then I went down to the door of the shelter. Jean had already gone and removed all the barricades, thankfully. I double-checked my appearance for any signs of war and didn't find any. I pulled the incredibly heavy door open as gently as possible and crept inside. To my extreme relief, all the kids were safe and happily watching a movie. Jubilee noticed me walk in and came over.

"Everything alright up there?"

"As good as to be expected"

"So, bad for a normal person"

"Yeah, but all of us are alive"

"And the King?"

"No, he was killed in front of many cameras that were broadcasting at the time"

"Oh, that's gonna be a problem, isn't it"

"Yeah, the world probably isn't too fond of mutants at the moment"

"Anything else I should know?"

"Crimson hates Erik now, so that's nice"

"Well, good luck with that"

"Oh- any chance this could turn into a double feature, cleaning up is going to take a while"

"Sure, KIDS, Mr. McCoy has just given me some great news! We're all allowed to stay up extra late and watch another movie after this one!"

"Yay!"

"Everyone say thank you, Mr. McCoy!"

"THANK YOU, MR. MCCOY!"

I started to leave the shelter and whispered to myself in pure disbelief.

"I got a Ph.D. for this"