[survivor!au]

The way it burned was agonising. Xavier knew he wasn’t perfect, sins had been committed, but was he truly deserving of this fate? To be thrown into a small oven, flesh slowly burning.

Xavier couldn’t really remember much, his brain clouded with agony. Blue eyes glanced up, meeting yours. He was sobbing, shaking. His face- his beautiful face. The pain. He couldn’t take living like this, even if he just barely recognised he had just been saved.

You try soothe the poor man, but his skin ached so much he was inconsolable. His face a mess, his friends dead all around him. You, his saving grace, was all he had. As you cupped an unburnt cheek you winced. He was red hot, hurting even you. Oh this poor darling.

It was like a small victory when you escaped, hitchhiking to a hospital (your drivers rightfully panicked). At least Xavier got out of there before Mr Jingles got him…and at least he got the medical care he needed.

Still, the horrors- all the blood and death still haunted you both. The burns leaving a permanent wound of Camp Redwood that would never quite close. Xavier was just glad you found him when you did- even if he was disgusted by how he looked- he was alive.