TITLE: Backlash
Shifter 'verse
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: NC-17
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
FEEDBACK: Loved
SUMMARY: Something went wrong. Very wrong. It leaves Charles running on instinct and Erik trying to pick up the pieces... well, kinda. It's more like chasing a rat...

He was running. Wind whipped through his hair, his face was wet from the rain that was coming down as a fine spray. Dark clouds churned overhead and threatened more rain.

Behind him, something followed.

His head hurt, his thoughts were confused, and he didn't really know where he was or where he was running to. He was simply running, a primal imperative, an instinctive reaction to being pursued.

And then the world stopped. It ended abruptly at a cliff that went straight into the sea.

Panic spread through him.

The rain increased, soaking through his clothes, his hair. It was cold and he was shivering, but the discomfort was secondary to the need to run.

But why?

From whom?

He looked over his shoulder and saw someone approaching. Running toward him.

And the panic overrode everything else.

x x x x x x

Erik knew that his heart stopped the second when Charles went over the cliffside. His thoughts screeched to a halt and everything but his primal side went into paralysis. He didn't really think when he dove after his partner, screaming his name.

His body hit the water, his element, and he fought back the need to Shift. He would be useless with fins and a tail. He needed two hands to grab the limp body of the other man and pull him back to the surface. Instinct played a big part in finding Charles and he hauled him back up and toward the beach.

His mind screamed at the telepath, trying to make himself heard through the anchor, but all he heard was static. Like a scrambled signal.

The beach was shrouded in water, the rain coming down so hard, it was difficult to see anything. Erik didn't care. With the sound of the waves crashing against the sand and rocks overlaying everything else but the cry of the occasional gull, he knelt next to the unconscious Xavier and forced air into the deflating lungs. First aid, breathing for him, pushing the balls of his hands into the unmoving chest.

Breathe! he begged. Breathe!

Charles suddenly coughed, a mixture of water and spittle erupting from his mouth, and Erik turned him onto his side, letting him clear his lungs.

"Charles?" he tried when the coughs subsided.

Blue eyes, clouded with confusion and pain, stared at him. Then the panic set in again.

No recognition.

Just the fear and the reaction of a landbound prey animal to a waterbound predator.

Charles tried to get away from him, pushing himself up and collapsing in a sorry heap. He gave a soft sob, hands clawing at the wet sand.

"Charles, it's me. It's Erik. You're safe. Please…"

He touched one wet shoulder and Charles recoiled with a groan of fear. Erik pushed along the anchor line, trying to grasp the other mind, but he wasn't a telepath. He wasn't active, only the receiving passive side.

The other Shifter suddenly changed form and the forest rat tried to dart off, but Erik was faster. Predator instincts. He caught the wet animal and received a deep bite for his troubles.

"Damnit!" he hissed, blood running down his hand when sharp claws scratched him. "Charles, I'm trying to help!"

In the end he had to hold on to the scruff of Charles' neck with all his strength and the rat finally hung limply in his grasp, looking miserable and like he was about to get eaten.

It was when Logan and Raven arrived, both drenched, Raven looking scared; almost horrified. The rat twisted again, but Erik refused to let go and he finally wrapped his partner into a wet cloth to trap his feet.

"What happened?" Erik demanded.

Rain beat down on them and the sound of the churning sea was drowning out almost all other noise.

"Training accident," Logan answered, looking grim. "He was hit by a stray blast. Looks like it scrambled his big brain."

Erik seethed silently, stalking past the other mutant and carrying the suddenly very quiet rat back up the cliff. It was a narrow, dangerous path in this weather, but he had walked it often enough.

When they were finally inside the manor, Erik refused to acknowledge anyone until he was in their room, depositing the shivering rat in his jacket on the bed. Charles tried to free himself, but the knot was too strong; especially since it was also wet.

"What am I going to do with you?" Erik murmured.

The dark brown rat looked at him, terrified.

"He senses the Shark," a voice interrupted his thoughts and Erik glared.

Hank refused to be cowed. He pushed up his glasses with a taloned finger.

"Mediah hit Charles by accident. His brain is scrambled and he's currently only listening to instinct. His Shifter side is stronger than his human one, too."

"How hard did she hit him?"

"Pretty hard. This isn't just confusion. It's terror."

Erik gazed at his lover, his usually so adorable little rat, and found only fear meeting his eyes. Fear of the predator, of the shark, of Erik.

"How long will it last?"

"Last time it had taken Sean almost a day to shake off this much of a blast."

Erik remembered. Banshee had been terrified of heights for the rest of the day, had refused to go up to his room, and had finally spent the night in the basement, barely sleeping more than an hour.

Mediah was a young woman who had found them through a friend in Westchester. She had first lived in the small, revived town, then moved to the mansion for training and school. Training consisted of enabling her to control her blasts. Mediah's Curse was that a blast from her scrambled one's brain, from light to completely. Charles had helped her along in measuring her defense mechanism and she had made progress, but now this.

"It was an accident," Hank repeated. "Give it time."

Erik rose. Time. Charles needed time. He hated to leave him, but right now the shark scared him more than anything else. What he wanted was to protect the man he loved more than his life, to be close and keep harm away.

But he couldn't.

Meeting Hank's yellow eyes he brought his point across: Charles better be safe or else.

The young mutant nodded. Charles would be safe. Completely.

x x x x x x

Logan was outside, chewing on a cigar stub. He raised his eyebrows when Erik left the manor.

"Going somewhere, bub?"

"Fuck off."

That got him a laugh. "So he's scared of you, big deal. It's because of some rogue blast from the kid. She didn't do it on purpose. Give it a night and he'll be fine."

Erik walked past the other man, ignoring the words. He knew Mediah hadn't meant it, but right now his presence would be more harmful than good. Just the idea that he might run into the perpetrator of what had harmed Charles made him see red. It was safer for all if he took his anger outside until Charles was fine.

"Want to fight it off?" Logan offered, a gleam in his eyes.

"Get your rocks off somewhere else, Logan."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, right. Well, see ya."

Erik didn't reply. He simply walked down the coastal trail to Westchester.

tbc...