For Better or For Worse

Chapter 17

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Erik was going to do his best to save his son...

Hank had begun to inspect Peter's wound, but out in the desert, with the billowing sand and heat, it was hard for Hank to clearly see how bad the wound actually was.

But, based off of the fact that Peter had a large piece of rusty rebar penetrating from his stomach to his back, at an upward angle, and Peter was gasping for breath, it was reasonable to assume that the damage was pretty severe.

Before Hank could do anything, he heard heavy footsteps crunching across the desert sand, heading his direction.

Looking up, Hank made eye contact with non-other than Erik himself. What – is he coming over just to finish the boy off? Hank thought.

Hank subconsciously tightened his grip on Peter, pulling him, if possible, even closer to his chest.

Peter sputtered in reaction to the movement.

It hurt.

It hurt really bad.

Erik winced at the anticipation in Hank's eyes and the pain in Peters.

"I'm... I'm not going to hurt him" Erik stuttered.

"Well, it's a bit too late for that, don't ya think?!" Hank responded viciously.

"Hank, everything is okay now," Charles interjected, "Erik won't hurt Peter anymore..." Charles looked toward Erik sadly, seeming to already know how all of this was going to end.

Erik slowly knelt down in front of Peter and Hank.

Peter looked at Erik, maybe somewhat hopefully, and said, "h-hey", and somehow even mustered a slight smile. "wh-what h-ha-happened?" Peter tried to ask, but stuttered, wincing in pain as he began to choke on more blood.

"Quiet. Don't try to talk anymore, you will only make it worse", Erik said – but regrated it instantly, because it came out a bit too harsh and firm, and it made Peter recoil back a bit into Hank.

But let's be honest, Erik was mad, scared, and hurt. He had no clue what to do or how to react and this was making him seem to do everything wrong.

So, he distanced himself from Peter, and instead directed his attention to Hank, who was staring quite coldly and hatefully at him.

"We have to get him onto the plane and somewhere to get him help", Erik said quickly, "If we act now, we might have a chance at saving him".

Hank saw the strange glimmer of hope in Erik's eyes and, as mad as Hank was at Erik at the moment, and as much as he hated agreeing with him, he knew that if they did not act now, Peter would have no chance.

"Alright," Hank sighed, and then looked at Peter, "Peter, I going to stand up and take you to the jet..."

Peter carefully nodded, seeming to understand what Hank refused to say – that this little trip was going to be excruciating.

And it was.

The second that Hank began to stand with Peter in his arms, his grip adjusted – just by the slightest – but all the same it made Peter cry out, fresh tears springing from his eyes.

Erik couldn't watch, the guilt was too much. So, he went over and busied himself with helping Charles into the jet as well.

Charles didn't even look at him now, let alone say anything.

It didn't take long before they had settled into the jet.

The unconscious Kurt, Ororo, Remy, Angel, and Psylocke were still laid out on the floor of the jet. However, they were quickly (and gently, of course) repositioned by Raven to make room for Peter.