Title: Screech Expletive! Expletive!
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Rating: Mature
Length: ~550
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for a stripper/hooker/porn square at trope-bingo and it happens to fit in so well here.
Thanks to ninemoons42 for the quick beta help.
We’ll count this towards the following badges: beta boss, cross-pollination
Summary: Erik's Brotherhood has a half-day or more to sit before another mission. That's just enough time for Erik to engage in one of his favorite past times.

The Brotherhood had been forced to live in abandoned buildings so run-down that they almost always lacked proper electricity, heating, and water. On the rare occasions when they could hide out in a place with adequate electricity at the very least, Erik let out a loud sigh of relief, though he tried to do that in the privacy of his own room.

When they had power and therefore an Internet connection, Erik tended to take advantage by picking up a few more clips and files for his private folders. Not that he didn't know that downloading porn would have been about the last thing the team would have suspected him of doing.

That said, there were few things that annoyed Erik worse than having to resort to fluctuating Internet connections in less-than-stable locations.

It might have ticked him off but at least it also helped him keep his habit small - smaller than he thought might be healthy for a man of his age - especially since he'd always felt that he had more needs than most, which he satisfied with his hand, twice a day, morning and evening.

Today, however, he had the luxuries of time and of enough juice and so he dialed in, dreading the horrible modem screeches as it connected, because he had tired of everything else that he had managed to amass so far. Everything after that would be easy.

The screeching stopped and he glanced at his signal strength - and he swore, quietly, when he saw how bad it was.

So far, not so good at all.

He opened a browser window and clicked one of his bookmarks, and hoped that there was something good to download.

The team still had another thirteen hours before they were due to leave, and hopefully the connection would hold up to let him get this video.

Erik clicked on the file, set it to save and waited.

While waiting, Erik futzed around some on the 'net - his email inboxes were empty, though, save for a few cryptic emails from Charles.

Those Erik read carefully and when he finished with each one, he checked the status of his download.

Fifty-seven percent.

Damn this was moving too slowly.

The download was at 95% when Erik lost his patience with the slowness of it.

He tried to will the computer and the modem to work faster with a judiciously applied push courtesy of his powers - but just as he thought that the electronics would obey him at last, the lights flickered ominously, and that was followed by the long groaning pop of the electricity cutting out.

There was no way he was going to get back what he lost now, especially if this blackout lasted any longer. They were supposed to leave in another few hours.

He let out a low guttural curse and slammed his computer shut. Nothing to be done about it now. It was times like this, when he was just close enough to have finished the download that he again cursed being a covert evil organization that tended towards acts of violence.

If he had never left Charles - never left the man’s side - he would never have to worry about the lack of speedy internet connections. Even if Erik would have been set to share it now with a school full of horny teenagers, looking to do the same thing Erik was doing.