Fic: Faults for Fixing, X-men 1st Class, Erik/Charles, NC17/18, Ch2
Title: Faults for Fixing 2 of 4
Author: Beren
Fandom: X-men First Class
Pairing: Erik/Charles
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel et al. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: light bondage, movie canon only, timeline AU
Summary: Charles sees the events of the missile crisis and subsequent weeks when he uses Cerebro to touch the mind of a mutant with the power to see the near future. When he wakes up he is determined that he will not allow them to happen and he will not lose the people he loves.
Author's Notes: See ch 1
Word Count: 25,615
My Fanfic Listings (LJ) | My Fanfic Listings (DreamW)
Links: Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4
Chapter 2 Once More With Feeling
Two days later they were all settled in, the house was habitable and everyone had started their training. Erik obviously wanted to know more about Shaw, but had agreed everyone needed to be in better shape first. Since they were sharing a bed nightly, he was pretty sure Erik was not too annoyed with him for not giving up the details. With the practicalities out of the way Charles was now dealing with everything else.
"Hank, can I speak to you for a moment?" Charles caught up with the young genius heading towards the room Hank had chosen for his lab.
"Oh, yes, of course," Hank said, stopping and turning, clearly having been in a world of his own.
"It's about your serum," he said and gently guided his companion to keep walking.
"It's going really well," Hank said, brightening instantly; "I think I've almost isolated the correct sequence."
"It's not going to work," Charles decided to be blunt to be kind.
The smile fell off Hank's face.
"It doesn't eliminate the mutation, it strengthens it," he explained. "You definitely found the right part, and you were genuinely magnificent after you decided to use it, but you were blue, with fur."
Hank was a scientist, there was no point in giving half truths.
"Really?" Hank sounded shocked, but nowhere near as horrified as Charles had expected. "It must have pushed my physical mutation to its limits."
Of course, Charles should have known Hank would take it as an intellectual puzzle.
"Maybe Darwin's mutation would help," Hank said, clearly thinking all sorts of scientific type thoughts, "with his adaption abilities it might be workable."
Charles could keep up with Hank when he wanted to, but that wasn't his aim this time.
"You know," he said while carefully steering Hank into the lab, "Raven might not want to be normal now that she's among mutants."
Hank looked a little conflicted at that.
"Hank, we've all been isolated," he explained gently, "forced to fit in. Now we're discovering there are more of us, so many more. Raven can make herself look like an average human being out there, she might not want to have to here."
"But she said ..." Hank stared to say.
"I know," he interrupted in what he hoped was an understanding tone, "she's told me before, but we're all growing and changing. She might change her mind. I'm not asking you to stop, I know how much this means to you, but I'm just asking you to be gentle, okay?"
Hank frowned, but then slowly nodded, clearly thinking it over.
"Okay."
Charles smiled and patted the younger man on the back.
"Thank you," he said. "Right, I have to go and see if Alex has destroyed anymore of the bunker. How's the harness coming?"
"I should have it done by this afternoon."
Hank really had the most amazing mind.
"I'll see you then, then," Charles said and went to leave the room.
All in all things were going better. Of course the unresolved sexual tension between Angel and Darwin, and Angel and Alex was not something he had seen coming and gave him a headache when in too close proximity to the three for too long, but everything else was groovy.
~*~
Among all the preparing for confrontation, Charles did also manage to deal with personal things as well. The box arrived by courier a day after he confirmed the final details and he took it to his room immediately. The idea had come to him the first night with Erik and as soon as it had formed he had known he was going to go through with it. There was no other way he could think to equalise things. He did not want Erik shut off from him in any way, but it made their relationship unequal, at least until Erik learned greater control. Erik was always at the mercy of his powers, but he was not at the mercy of Erik's, not yet.
He had rushed the order through, paying far more than he had needed to, but this was important to him. The box was polished wood and he opened it and smiled at what was inside. Pulling the items inside from their velvet padding and admiring the workmanship, he set about his plan.
When he was done he walked downstairs like normal and went to help Alex in the bunker. He had every intention of allowing Erik to simply notice what he had done.
Lunch was always a chaotic affair with people running in and out, doing their own thing, but it was the first place Charles bumped into Erik since they had woken up and Erik had returned to his own room. So far they were keeping their relationship discrete, but Charles was pretty sure Raven suspected something.
"Hello, Erik," he said and smiled as he took the sandwich he had just made and headed off to find Hank.
Erik was with Angel, but clearly noticed something as Charles walked passed.
"What ..?" Erik turned and asked, but Charles just smiled at his lover and continued on his way.
He caught Erik watching him at several points during the day and after dinner he headed up to his room, counting down the minutes until Erik opened the door and invited himself in.
"Show me," Erik said.
Charles smiled, but did as he was asked and pulled up his sleeves and lifted one pant leg to illustrate. He had known Erik would sense the metal, but when Erik actually saw the cuffs he had had made, his lover's eyes became round and shocked. They were made of stainless steel, engraved with a simple scroll design and each was about an inch and a half wide. They fitted around his wrists and ankles perfectly, having been made specifically to his measurements and the edges were rolled to prevent them digging in.
As Erik just stared at him, Charles held up the other thing that had come in the box. The silver chain swung under his fingers and displayed the delicate key perfectly in the evening light.
[This is for you,] he said, slipping into Erik's mind with the ease of someone who knew it intimately well. [The locks are breakable in an emergency, but not without destroying the cuffs and using a great deal of force. Only the key will open them.]
Erik was still staring at him and slowly the key floated from his fingers and into Erik's.
"You trust me this much?" Erik looked at the key as if it held the secret of life or something.
"I love you," Charles replied, liking how that sounded when he said it out loud for the first time. "Love requires equals to survive."
"I told you, I don't remember love," Erik said, sounding all but lost, "I only remember pain and hate."
[May I?] Charles asked, brushing over Erik's mind.
Erik nodded, although the man still appeared completely dazed.
Charles remembered how he had helped Erik with his control in the other timeline and he reached into Erik's mind, seeking out what he knew had to be there. Beneath the fear and the anger he found the brightness he was seeking and he drew part of it forward.
[Love is still there,] he said, seeing and feeling the memory he had found and brought into Erik's mind, [you just have to learn to find it.]
Erik's mother was there in Erik's mind and he could feel Erik's pain, but there was joy as well. He was not an idiot, he knew Erik was full of darkness; he had seen it all too clearly in the future that would no longer be, but there was more to his lover than that.
"Now we are equal," he said, standing and walking towards the other man, "each as vulnerable to the other, each as trusting. One day you won't need fancy toys like these, until then I give you them. I will give you everything you need, Erik, all you have to do is ask."
Reaching up, he wiped the single tear from Erik's cheek and then left his hand there.
"How are you real?" Erik asked him and he knew it was a perfectly honest question.
"I see minds, Erik," he replied quietly, "many, many minds; I understand far more about human nature than you could imagine. I have seen love like ours in other minds, but I've never felt it before, not before you. I can never let it go, not now I know. I am being perfectly selfish."
Erik laughed, just a small sound, but one that expressed confusion and doubt and need.
"You should run from me," Erik whispered to him, reaching up and fingering the metal around Charles' wrist.
"You're stuck with me I'm afraid, my friend, my lover," Charles whispered back.
He knew it was coming before Erik kissed him, because he was flooded with overwhelming want, but the kiss was not hard or brutal, it was soft and passionate and demanding. Charles simply surrendered to it and wound his arms around Erik.
[May I?] Erik asked and it felt strange to be on the other side of the question.
[Of course,] he replied and he felt his arms being pulled back.
To be at the mercy of Erik's power sent shots of excitement all through him. He began to move backwards without his conscious consent and he had no choice but to fall onto the bed when his knees connected with it. Of course he could have fought back, made it harder, but that wasn't what this was about. Erik had asked, he had said yes, so he was surrendering.
Erik lifted him onto the bed properly, flicking off his shoes for him by whatever metal was in them, and then proceeded to arrange him. His wrists stopped just above his head on either side and his legs parted, but not so there was any strain. He was still almost fully clothed and he refused to peek inside Erik's mind to find out what his lover had in mind.
When the zip on his trousers slid down and the metal button slid out of its hole he began to get the idea. So far in their nightly encounters they had explored each other with hands quite thoroughly and there had been lots of kissing and Erik had learned to exploit Charles' incredibly sensitive nipples, but they had not tried anything else. Charles was completely new to the reality of loving another man and of the encounters he had glimpsed in Erik's mind, none of them had involved tenderness of any sort. That made the relationship a very new thing for both of them.
"Just relax," Erik told him, climbing onto the bed as well, also still in his clothes.
It was hard for Charles to hold on to his desire to know as Erik totally failed to begin to strip either of them. What his lover did do was deftly reach into his open fly and underwear and pull out his rapidly hardening cock. Charles didn't even bother to try and stifle the gasp that that move drew out of him.
"I'm going to taste you, Charles," Erik told him, voice low and husky in a way that made Charles' cock twitch with appreciation, "and then I'm going to use my mouth to make you writhe against your bonds. Your job is to try not to scream loud enough to alert the whole house."
"Bloody hell, you're trying to kill me," was about the only response Charles could come up with to that, especially when Erik set about doing what had just been described.
Charles had control of his motor functions for what seemed like an inordinately short time after that. As Erik's shockingly talented tongue did things to the tip of his cock and, when liberal amounts of suction were applied, he thoroughly lost it. Erik played him as if he was a fine instrument and he writhed just as predicted and had to bite his lip hard not to shout rather too loudly.
Despite the number of girls he had managed to pick up in Oxford pubs, he had only ever had two blow jobs in his life and Erik completely blew both of those away. Somehow the fact they both still had their clothes on made it all the more intimate and being held down was driving him completely crazy. He hadn't actually considered that being at Erik's mercy would turn him on quite so completely, but then he was discovering new things about himself daily.
[Please,] he begged when he was so aroused he thought he might explode.
[How can I refuse when you ask so nicely?] Erik replied in kind without so much as pausing in what he was doing.
Charles swore loudly when Erik sucked him hard and then swallowed him to a degree that he was pretty sure should have been physically impossible. He had seen plenty of erotic things in real life and in other peoples' heads in his time, but the sight of Erik sucking on his cock had to be the most incredible. He came so hard that for a while he saw stars and he could only breathe in ragged pants.
Then Erik turned his nerves to rivulets of pure electricity by sucking on him until he was completely spent, apparently relishing every moment. Charles was pretty sure he had died and was in paradise as Erik finally pulled off and smiled at him. He was boneless and wrecked and felt utterly amazing, and he couldn't have put two words together if his life had depended on it.
"I have been wondering how to render you completely speechless," Erik said, radiating pleasure and slowly kneeling up.
"Nghh," was the only reply Charles could come up with.
~*~
Everyone was sat round the large dining room table, but not for a meal. It was time to decide how to proceed.
"Right," Charles said as everyone settled in, "what you all know is that we are after Sebastian Shaw, what most of you don't know is exactly why."
They had decided to leave the explanation until after the younger mutants had perfected some of their powers. After a week and a half everyone's progress had been staggering. Even though Charles had seen it happen in the other timeline, he was still amazed at the reality.
"Shaw is completely insane," Erik said when Charles looked at him; "he wishes to start a nuclear war and wipe out humanity."
"But that would wipe out most mutants as well," Hank pointed out almost instantly, "few mutations will protect against that level of radiation."
"Like Erik said, Shaw is insane," Charles agreed; "he believes nuclear power created us and that it will not destroy us."
He had been inside the man's mind and was all too aware of the madman's psychoses.
"But how can he start a war that big?" Alex asked.
"By convincing the Russians to place missiles in Cuba and running a US blockade," he replied, "but we're not going to let it get that far."
"How?" Sean asked.
"Yes, Charles, how?" Erik said and gave him one of those slightly patronising looks.
"Well I think our first port of call should be Emma Frost," he replied, "Shaw's telepath."
No one contradicted him immediately which was nice.
"Go on," Erik said.
"I can use Cerebro to contact her," he explained. "She's not an idiot, she has to know Shaw is completely unstable and with an alternative option she may chose to change sides. Even if she doesn't, once contact is made we will have a location."
"But we don't have Cerebro," Raven pointed out.
"It's back at the base," Hank added as if he thought maybe Charles had forgotten.
Charles smiled and nodded.
"Yes, but we walked out perfectly easily, I don't see why we can't sneak back in and borrow the facilities," he said, playing with his pen as he spoke. "Between us, Erik and I can get us in and once we are in the dome no one has to know we are there. It's not as if they will be expecting us to come back."
[Mental, completely mental,] came so loudly from Sean's direction that Charles was pretty sure he would have heard it from the next room.
"Can you pinpoint every member of personnel in the base before we go in?" Erik asked, an eminently practical question of course.
"Yes," he replied.
"Can you divert or disable anyone we come across so they are never aware we have even been there?"
"Yes."
"Then it's feasible," Erik said with a nod, which kind of shocked Charles; he had expected more resistance.
"Anyone else have any objections?" he asked, but everyone shook their heads. "Right, then I suggest we prepare for tomorrow night."
There were a few nervous looks between the younger mutants, but no one disagreed. Nervousness hung in the air as everyone dispersed, but it was tinged with excitement.
"Charles," Raven caught up with him as he was leaving the room.
"Yes?" he asked, pulling his mind back from thinking about his coming discussion with Emma Frost.
Raven took hold of his wrist and lifted it, pushing back the sleeve.
"What's this?"
He had known someone would spot one of the cuffs sooner or later, since he was wearing them most of the time.
"Just something Erik and I are working on," he replied with what he hoped was a convincing smile.
"Then why are you wearing them now?" Raven asked. "I saw you had something on at breakfast."
"Time," he lied smoothly, even though he hated doing it, "everyone's so busy preparing Erik and I are never sure when we'll get time to practice. We're thinking something like these might be useful in dangerous situation, but we're not sure yet so we're using me as a guinea pig."
Raven looked sceptical.
"You're letting Erik throw you around aren't you," she said and he had to concentrate very hard on not blushing.
"Something like that," he managed to say with a perfectly straight face.
"Just be careful," Raven told him, "I don't want to have to remove his spleen if he hurts you."
The idea of Raven going up against Erik made him smile, talk about beauty and the beast. It helped that he wasn't sure who would win.
~*~
It really was pathetically easy to break back into the top secret CIA base and it did make Charles wonder if there was any facility in the world they couldn't just walk into if they so chose. He distracted and diverted any personnel while Erik opened locked doors and Hank dealt with any hi-tech barriers. The others were mostly along in case everything went pear shaped.
Cerebro was there waiting for them and once Hank had disabled any outside indicators on the dome, they fired the computer up. Standing there with the headset on, waiting for Hank to finish preparations, Charles prayed that Emma Frost would see sense. It would be far easier to deal with Shaw if there were no other mutants in the way.
"Ready when you are," Hank said and snapped him to attention.
"Do it," he replied.
Charles closed his eyes and waited for the shock to his system that always came when Hank started Cerebro. This time he refused to let himself fall into the chaos that always came at first; he was only after one mutant not just flitting from random contact to random contact. For a few moments he remained perfectly still on the psychic level, allowing his perception to adjust and then he began to reach out.
After the first few minutes he completely lost track of time, simply following instincts that he still didn't quite understand. His advantage was that he had been inside Emma's mind in the other timeline so he knew what he was looking for. It took a great deal of concentration, but eventually he found her and her tightly guarded mind.
[Miss Frost,] he projected as he very gently skimmed her mental presence, [I was wondering if we could have a quiet word?]
What he felt instantly was shock. He had done the telepathic equivalent of sneaking up behind her and then tapping her on the shoulder, so he wasn't overly surprised.
[Please,] he added as he felt her reach for her diamond form.
That one word was apparently the right thing to say because Emma did not vanish from his perception.
[Telepath, how do you know my name?]
It almost felt like an attack as the words came back like diamond edged blades, but then he assumed she was demonstrating her strength.
[When we met the other night I picked a few things up, Charles Xavier, pleased to meet you again.]
He wasn't about to tell her that most of the information didn't come from the current reality.
[I don't like snoopers in my head.]
[Yes, well, I didn't actually know you were going to be there, so please forgive the intrusion.]
The fact she didn't know quite how to take him made him smile; Emma had obviously never expected him to be civil.
[What do you want?] she asked.
[I'd like to talk to you about ideologies and a possible alliance,] he explained and he knew she would know he was being perfectly serious.
[You wish to speak to my employer?] immediately came back.
[No, Miss Frost,] he replied, [I wish to speak with you. How can I put this, your employer is, shall we say, a complete bloody nutcase.]
The fact that Emma was partially amused by that was a good sign.
[I believe this conversation is over,] she said and he had the distinct impression she thought he was a ridiculous amateur.
[Please, Miss Frost,] he said before she could cut him off, [how can you lose by speaking with me? If I am the imbecile you seem to believe you may learn useful information.]
[And if you are not you may attempt to do the same,] Emma pointed out.
[You have my word I will not attempt to pry into your mind, Miss Frost,] he told her solemnly, [if I had wanted to do that I would have done so when I surprised you. Your mind is strong, but I have a few tricks of my own.]
[How are you even reaching me?] That at least was a genuine question.
[A machine,] he revealed, [it is extending my range. It took me quite a while to find you.]
[A CIA machine?]
[Technically, yes,] he replied, [although I have recently changed my status to self-employed; it seemed more prudent. That's part of what I wished to speak to you about.]
[I didn't think they just let you leave the CIA.]
[Yes well, it wasn't as if I asked, a few friends and I simply left and didn't provide a forwarding address.]
[So you're on the run and...]
[You misunderstand me, Miss Frost,] he interrupted her, [we are far from refugees, we are simply independent. We would like to be independent and united.]
He felt her mental laugh as distinctly as if she was standing next to him.
[You are asking me to join you?] Emma sounded incredulous. [What could you possibly offer me?]
[I may not own a submarine, Miss Frost,] he told her, [but I can offer a place of safety and a future. A nuclear war will destroy most of us as well, not just the humans, and a half dead planet cannot sustain life, not even mutant life.]
[How did you know ..?] Emma stopped herself from saying more.
[How do I know Shaw's plans?] Charles sent back. [That would take far too long to explain, but suffice to say I know all about Cuba. But back to the point, somewhere along the way Sebastian Shaw or should I say, Herr Doktor Schmidt, has lost his mind. He believes in a possible future based on pure fallacy. The nuclear winter would destroy the planet and the radiation would create mutations of the horrific kind, not of our kind. Humanity is evolving, but attempting to speed it up with a nuclear blast will result in extinction.]
[Just words...]
[Science actually, I am a professor of genetics, Miss Frost. The CIA didn't come to me originally because they knew I was a mutant, they came to me because of my knowledge and one of them had seen you. I was an idealistic idiot at the time, but have since seen the error of my ways and would very much like to not end up in an open war that we cannot win.]
[We are far stronger than them,] Emma protested.
[And far too few,] he replied. [You are a highly intelligent young woman, Miss Frost, the sums just do not add up. All that will come of war is pain and all that will come of us being divided is conflict that we do not need. You may share Sebastian Shaw's ideals, but you do not share his psychosis. With your help we can bring this madness to an end before the humans ever need to know how close they came or how powerful we really are.]
[You have nothing to offer me.]
[Stability, a home, others like yourself, safety, do none of those sound appealing? I will leave you to think about it, Miss Frost. If you are willing to speak further allow me to contact you at the same time tomorrow night. If not, then it has been a pleasure conversing with another like myself and we shall see each other on the battlefield. I am sorry to say I will not be so gentle if it comes to that.]
He withdrew before she could object or reply; it was always a good idea to let people think things over.
"Well?" Erik asked as soon as he opened his eyes.
"She is thinking about it," he replied and pushed the sensors away from his head. "We will contact her again tomorrow for her answer."
He turned to Hank.
"Did the coordinates come through okay?"
"Perfectly."
"Then if she says no, tomorrow we will have to use them," he concluded and stepped off of the platform.
With Emma Frost's help their campaign would be far easier, but without it could work as well.
~*~
"Frost may attempt to attack you," Erik pointed out after they had returned to the mansion.
"And I'm prepared for that," Charles replied and smiled as Erik automatically followed him into his room. "I may still be idealistic in many ways, but I am not stupid."
Erik's expression said the man disagreed.
"If she hurts you, I will hurt her."
That made Charles smile even more; Erik's protectiveness was kind of sweet, also homicidal and a little creepy, but Charles liked it. He had always looked after himself and in turn Raven, because she was like his little sister, it was new and exciting to have someone trying to look after him.
"Thank you," he said, because he appreciated the sentiment.
He decided that maybe it was time to broach a subject that had been on his mind since the whole mind shattering blowjob incident. Unfortunately he began to flush just thinking about it.
"Charles, why are you blushing?" Of course Erik noticed.
"Well," he said, trying to make himself just say it, "that is I was wondering, if maybe, you might consider ..."
Erik was just looking confused and Charles shook himself; he was very bad about talking about sex. Partaking of sex he could handle, talking about it, not so much.
"Would you care to engage in intercourse?" he asked and it sounded so formal and stilted that he was pretty sure he would put Erik off right off the bat.
The way Erik looked at him he felt an idiot and blushed even more.
"I've never done it, but I am aware of the mechanics given that I went to Oxford with a large number of English Public school boys totally unaware there was a telepath among them," he hurried on. "I do have what we might need, but I also understand if you would rather no..."
He was silenced by Erik kissing him hard enough to bruise.
[Shall I take that as a yes?] he asked in relief as Erik pulled him very close and used one hand to grab a large handful of his arse.
Erik smiled against his mouth, clearly amused at his stumbling, but the erection pushing against his thigh spoke of considerable arousal as well.
[I would love to engage in intercourse, Professor,] Erik told him, teasing him very directly.
[Then I think, Mr Lehnsherr,] he replied in kind, [we are wearing too many clothes.]
Taking that as an invitation, Erik started to undress him. He had picked up the pure delight that Erik seemed to feel on peeling him out of his multiple layers, so he never tried to do it himself. It had not taken Erik long to become more efficient at it than he was himself, even with the tendency Erik had to stop and just touch him every now and then.
He did manage to get Erik's belt and fly undone before he was completely stripped, but the turtlenecks always defeated him, so he let Erik do that himself. By the time they were done there were clothes all over the place, but Charles didn't care in the slightest as Erik pushed him down on the bed. This he had become very good at and for a while they just played their usual game of touching and kissing as they both sank into the mood.
It was only when Erik pushed up onto those strong arms so that his lover was looking down at him that Charles knew they were about to move on.
"So," Erik said, looking at him hungrily, "do you wish to give or receive?"
Charles felt his stomach flip, he hadn't really expected to be asked, he had just assumed that Erik with his prior experience would be in charge.
"Receive," he said and watched Erik's eyes dilate with pure arousal; that had definitely been the right thing to say.
"Where is the ..?" He pointed at the dresser before Erik could finish asking.
He had placed the pot of Vaseline in his top drawer two days previously just in case; he was always an optimist.
"Lie down on your front," Erik told him, as his lover climbed off the bed to retrieve what they needed, "it will be easier to begin with."
Licking his lips, Charles did as he was asked and then waited for Erik to return to the bed. He was suddenly incredibly nervous. When the bed springs dipped again, he couldn't even bring himself to look round and just allowed Erik to gently spread his legs.
He had honestly never felt so open and vulnerable as Erik knelt half between his spread thighs and massaged his buttocks. He was all too aware that men did this all the time, he hadn't been kidding about Oxford, but it felt so incredibly intimate and just a little wrong.
"Relax and stop thinking, Charles," Erik told him, "I can feel you from here. All you have to concentrate on is telling me if anything is too much or it hurts."
He mumbled his reply into the pillow, but even he wasn't sure what he had been trying to say, so it made no sense. He was sure he was blushing all over, but he did his best to do as Erik told him. He wanted this, he had asked for this and even though he felt acute embarrassment at Erik touching him there, he was going to see it through. He only hoped that Erik didn't notice the fact his cock was beginning to deflate with the pure mortification he was feeling.
When Erik spread his arse cheeks, he pushed his head into the pillow and tried not to die of embarrassment and then a lubricated finger swiped over his hole. Suddenly he wasn't so much embarrassed as conflicted and quickly heading back to aroused. So many nerves fired at the same time he moaned quietly.
"I think you may be getting the idea," Erik said and stroked his arse again.
He still felt incredibly exposed, but as Erik touched him it was beginning to make Charles excited rather than ashamed and nervous. Seeing flashes of what other people were doing was nothing to being part of the actual event and he found that some of his muscles were actually trembling with excitement. He and Erik had been intimate since they had come to the mansion, but this was taking it to a much higher level.
Erik was treating him very gently, upping the pressure only very slowly and when Erik finally pushed a finger into him his muscles just opened as if they were meant for it. Not that that stopped him gasping and shifting and Erik stopped moving instantly.
"Charles, are you alright?" Erik asked in a very serious tone.
He only managed a hum in reply.
"Charles?" Erik repeated, clearly very serious about having his consent.
"Yes," he replied, "don't stop."
It was a very strange feeling, but an incredibly arousing one as well, especially when Erik began to move his finger again.
He doubted very much that anyone had been this gentle with Erik, but his lover seemed determined to make sure everything was perfect for him. In fact Erik's attention to detail was a little bit agonising in places, because Erik slowly opened him, slowly being the word and Charles found that his cock was so incredibly hard it actually ached. He was a little bit awed by how easily his body opened up to Erik's fingers if he was truthful. He knew it was possible of course, but knowing and doing were two entirely different experiences.
After the second finger he entirely gave up trying to control himself and moaned quite loudly. If anyone happened to be walking past his door and heard him it was their own lookout.
"My god, Charles," Erik said, the first words he had uttered in quite a while, "you are beautiful like this."
That just made Charles moan some more and push back on the three fingers embedded deep in his arse.
"Want you, please, now," he said, needing the next level of intimacy like he needed air.
The loss of Erik's fingers made him feel empty and wanting, but as Erik urged him onto his hands and knees he knew it wouldn't be long before he had what he wanted. The pot of Vaseline fell back to the bed momentarily and then Erik moved in close behind him.
The first push of Erik's cock into his body was a bit of a shock, but he grunted and willed his muscles to relax. The fact that Erik stilled as soon as he made a sound was actually worse.
"Move dammit," he just about managed to say coherently and almost took matters into his own hands.
"Patience," Erik told him, holding his hips firmly and slowly beginning to push in again, "I do not want to hurt you."
"You're not," he promised, but the last word dissolved into a long moan as Erik filled him.
He had never imagined quite what it would feel like. It was not just the physical sensation that was utterly encompassing, it was the knowledge of what he was doing and who he was doing it with. This was the closest two human men could come and even as he registered that thought he felt his mind trying to bridge the gap as well. He was overcome with the desire to share every part of himself and he had to claw on to his self control as Erik began to move inside of him.
Erik's strong hands on his body, Erik's cock going deep into the heart of him, Erik's mind floating at the edges of his consciousness; it was all hypnotising. His usual awareness of his immediate vicinity faded away as Erik took everything he was offering. It was honestly better than he had ever dreamed and he gave himself up to it completely.
His arousal built and built, becoming a tight knot in his loins and he felt Erik's need and desire worming its way under his skin as well. He felt ready to explode in all ways and he knew he couldn't control it for long.
"Erik," he panted, trying to give some warning, "can't ... need ..."
"Give in," was all Erik said in return and Charles had no choice but to do just that.
As his body and mind exploded at the same time, the most he could do was focus solely on Erik, opening himself up completely and sharing everything. This was not something he wanted to accidentally project into anyone else's dreams and so he concentrated completely on Erik.
Everything turned into a haze of emotion and orgasm and he lost track of his own body somewhere, feeling everything that was going through them both. He refused to let go completely, keeping it all to just them, but that meant all his barriers between himself and Erik were worth nothing. For a while they were one being, sharing every sensation, every base thought, until finally Charles managed to drag his awareness back towards himself.
Separating himself from Erik mentally was almost as uncomfortable as Erik carefully pulling out of his body. He was a telepath, at a fundamental level he wanted to share other minds and be shared in return and it took a great deal of effort to convince his brain to follow his instructions.
As Erik pulled him onto his side, spooning up behind him, he felt slightly sore in mind and body and he couldn't help smiling. Never with any other person had he felt the need to be one quite so completely. It could have been the fact that Erik was a mutant or it could just have been Erik, he didn't know and he couldn't bring himself to care.
"That was amazing," he said quietly when he could finally speak again.
Erik ran a hand down his side and kissed him lightly on the neck.
[Yes,] was the silent reply.
Charles registered that he felt sticky and sweaty, but as Erik pulled the cover up over them both he didn't object. He had no wish to break what was left of their connection by moving and he wasn't overly sure his legs would hold him yet anyway. Lying against Erik he let his eyes drift close and floated free of all care for a while.
~*~
[Good evening, Miss Frost,] he said as he initiated contact the next night.
[What did you have in mind?] The question was cold and did not give away any information from Emma's end.
[Straight to business then,] he replied. [You are a very direct woman, Miss Frost.]
[And you are procrastinating, Xavier,] Emma replied.
[We were hoping that with your assistance we could resolve this without too much destruction,] he told her. [Of course exactly how would have to be decided with your assistance.]
[That's your entire plan?]
[We are very flexible,] he replied, [and very capable.]
[A fanatic, an amateur G-man and a handful of untrained mutants,] Emma shot back. [You are not even a threat.]
[If you believe that, Miss Frost, why are you even talking to me?]
Nothing came back over their connection for a while and he knew he had asked the right question.
[You said the blast would kill mutants as well as humans.]
[It will destroy just about everything in its path,] Charles replied; [I can show you the statistics if you wish. I have a colleague who is very good at facts and figures. Shaw has a rather unique relationship with energy and he has forgotten we are not all so protected. Have you never suspected he is not sane?]
Again there was silence and Charles was pretty sure he had hit a nerve.
[What happens if we help you?]
His heart almost skipped a beat when she said 'we'; it made it clear she had spoken to Shaw's other mutants.
[You would be welcome to join us or go your own way, I am sure Shaw's wealth could keep you in the manner to which you have become accustomed.]
He did not do her the disservice or asking if she could get to it.
[You would just let us leave?]
[Of course, Miss Frost,] he replied, [we do not wish to force anybody into servitude. If at a later date we were to come into conflict I cannot guarantee the outcome, but the future is forever changing. Our aim is to stop Shaw, what comes after that is up for discussion.]
[How solid is your base of operations?]
An interesting question, but Charles could understand it. Rather than replying in words he sent her some mental images of the inside of the mansion. He showed her nothing that would give away their location, but enough to make his point.
[You weren't kidding when you said you weren't homeless,] Emma replied and sounded surprised.
[There are many things you do not know about me,] he said, enjoying the ominous quality of his words; he thought Erik would be proud of him.
For a while he was left to his own thoughts and he allowed Emma her privacy.
[Shaw takes an hour a day to recharge in the reactor,] was what finally came back and Charles mentally cheered inside his own head. [He is totally cut off while he does.]
[That certainly sounds like a window of opportunity, Miss Frost,] he replied, making sure his mental voice was calm.
Things were beginning to fall into place and they began to talk strategy.
On to Part 3
Author: Beren
Fandom: X-men First Class
Pairing: Erik/Charles
Rating: NC17/18
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel et al. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: light bondage, movie canon only, timeline AU
Summary: Charles sees the events of the missile crisis and subsequent weeks when he uses Cerebro to touch the mind of a mutant with the power to see the near future. When he wakes up he is determined that he will not allow them to happen and he will not lose the people he loves.
Author's Notes: See ch 1
Word Count: 25,615
My Fanfic Listings (LJ) | My Fanfic Listings (DreamW)
Links: Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4
Chapter 2 Once More With Feeling
Two days later they were all settled in, the house was habitable and everyone had started their training. Erik obviously wanted to know more about Shaw, but had agreed everyone needed to be in better shape first. Since they were sharing a bed nightly, he was pretty sure Erik was not too annoyed with him for not giving up the details. With the practicalities out of the way Charles was now dealing with everything else.
"Hank, can I speak to you for a moment?" Charles caught up with the young genius heading towards the room Hank had chosen for his lab.
"Oh, yes, of course," Hank said, stopping and turning, clearly having been in a world of his own.
"It's about your serum," he said and gently guided his companion to keep walking.
"It's going really well," Hank said, brightening instantly; "I think I've almost isolated the correct sequence."
"It's not going to work," Charles decided to be blunt to be kind.
The smile fell off Hank's face.
"It doesn't eliminate the mutation, it strengthens it," he explained. "You definitely found the right part, and you were genuinely magnificent after you decided to use it, but you were blue, with fur."
Hank was a scientist, there was no point in giving half truths.
"Really?" Hank sounded shocked, but nowhere near as horrified as Charles had expected. "It must have pushed my physical mutation to its limits."
Of course, Charles should have known Hank would take it as an intellectual puzzle.
"Maybe Darwin's mutation would help," Hank said, clearly thinking all sorts of scientific type thoughts, "with his adaption abilities it might be workable."
Charles could keep up with Hank when he wanted to, but that wasn't his aim this time.
"You know," he said while carefully steering Hank into the lab, "Raven might not want to be normal now that she's among mutants."
Hank looked a little conflicted at that.
"Hank, we've all been isolated," he explained gently, "forced to fit in. Now we're discovering there are more of us, so many more. Raven can make herself look like an average human being out there, she might not want to have to here."
"But she said ..." Hank stared to say.
"I know," he interrupted in what he hoped was an understanding tone, "she's told me before, but we're all growing and changing. She might change her mind. I'm not asking you to stop, I know how much this means to you, but I'm just asking you to be gentle, okay?"
Hank frowned, but then slowly nodded, clearly thinking it over.
"Okay."
Charles smiled and patted the younger man on the back.
"Thank you," he said. "Right, I have to go and see if Alex has destroyed anymore of the bunker. How's the harness coming?"
"I should have it done by this afternoon."
Hank really had the most amazing mind.
"I'll see you then, then," Charles said and went to leave the room.
All in all things were going better. Of course the unresolved sexual tension between Angel and Darwin, and Angel and Alex was not something he had seen coming and gave him a headache when in too close proximity to the three for too long, but everything else was groovy.
~*~
Among all the preparing for confrontation, Charles did also manage to deal with personal things as well. The box arrived by courier a day after he confirmed the final details and he took it to his room immediately. The idea had come to him the first night with Erik and as soon as it had formed he had known he was going to go through with it. There was no other way he could think to equalise things. He did not want Erik shut off from him in any way, but it made their relationship unequal, at least until Erik learned greater control. Erik was always at the mercy of his powers, but he was not at the mercy of Erik's, not yet.
He had rushed the order through, paying far more than he had needed to, but this was important to him. The box was polished wood and he opened it and smiled at what was inside. Pulling the items inside from their velvet padding and admiring the workmanship, he set about his plan.
When he was done he walked downstairs like normal and went to help Alex in the bunker. He had every intention of allowing Erik to simply notice what he had done.
Lunch was always a chaotic affair with people running in and out, doing their own thing, but it was the first place Charles bumped into Erik since they had woken up and Erik had returned to his own room. So far they were keeping their relationship discrete, but Charles was pretty sure Raven suspected something.
"Hello, Erik," he said and smiled as he took the sandwich he had just made and headed off to find Hank.
Erik was with Angel, but clearly noticed something as Charles walked passed.
"What ..?" Erik turned and asked, but Charles just smiled at his lover and continued on his way.
He caught Erik watching him at several points during the day and after dinner he headed up to his room, counting down the minutes until Erik opened the door and invited himself in.
"Show me," Erik said.
Charles smiled, but did as he was asked and pulled up his sleeves and lifted one pant leg to illustrate. He had known Erik would sense the metal, but when Erik actually saw the cuffs he had had made, his lover's eyes became round and shocked. They were made of stainless steel, engraved with a simple scroll design and each was about an inch and a half wide. They fitted around his wrists and ankles perfectly, having been made specifically to his measurements and the edges were rolled to prevent them digging in.
As Erik just stared at him, Charles held up the other thing that had come in the box. The silver chain swung under his fingers and displayed the delicate key perfectly in the evening light.
[This is for you,] he said, slipping into Erik's mind with the ease of someone who knew it intimately well. [The locks are breakable in an emergency, but not without destroying the cuffs and using a great deal of force. Only the key will open them.]
Erik was still staring at him and slowly the key floated from his fingers and into Erik's.
"You trust me this much?" Erik looked at the key as if it held the secret of life or something.
"I love you," Charles replied, liking how that sounded when he said it out loud for the first time. "Love requires equals to survive."
"I told you, I don't remember love," Erik said, sounding all but lost, "I only remember pain and hate."
[May I?] Charles asked, brushing over Erik's mind.
Erik nodded, although the man still appeared completely dazed.
Charles remembered how he had helped Erik with his control in the other timeline and he reached into Erik's mind, seeking out what he knew had to be there. Beneath the fear and the anger he found the brightness he was seeking and he drew part of it forward.
[Love is still there,] he said, seeing and feeling the memory he had found and brought into Erik's mind, [you just have to learn to find it.]
Erik's mother was there in Erik's mind and he could feel Erik's pain, but there was joy as well. He was not an idiot, he knew Erik was full of darkness; he had seen it all too clearly in the future that would no longer be, but there was more to his lover than that.
"Now we are equal," he said, standing and walking towards the other man, "each as vulnerable to the other, each as trusting. One day you won't need fancy toys like these, until then I give you them. I will give you everything you need, Erik, all you have to do is ask."
Reaching up, he wiped the single tear from Erik's cheek and then left his hand there.
"How are you real?" Erik asked him and he knew it was a perfectly honest question.
"I see minds, Erik," he replied quietly, "many, many minds; I understand far more about human nature than you could imagine. I have seen love like ours in other minds, but I've never felt it before, not before you. I can never let it go, not now I know. I am being perfectly selfish."
Erik laughed, just a small sound, but one that expressed confusion and doubt and need.
"You should run from me," Erik whispered to him, reaching up and fingering the metal around Charles' wrist.
"You're stuck with me I'm afraid, my friend, my lover," Charles whispered back.
He knew it was coming before Erik kissed him, because he was flooded with overwhelming want, but the kiss was not hard or brutal, it was soft and passionate and demanding. Charles simply surrendered to it and wound his arms around Erik.
[May I?] Erik asked and it felt strange to be on the other side of the question.
[Of course,] he replied and he felt his arms being pulled back.
To be at the mercy of Erik's power sent shots of excitement all through him. He began to move backwards without his conscious consent and he had no choice but to fall onto the bed when his knees connected with it. Of course he could have fought back, made it harder, but that wasn't what this was about. Erik had asked, he had said yes, so he was surrendering.
Erik lifted him onto the bed properly, flicking off his shoes for him by whatever metal was in them, and then proceeded to arrange him. His wrists stopped just above his head on either side and his legs parted, but not so there was any strain. He was still almost fully clothed and he refused to peek inside Erik's mind to find out what his lover had in mind.
When the zip on his trousers slid down and the metal button slid out of its hole he began to get the idea. So far in their nightly encounters they had explored each other with hands quite thoroughly and there had been lots of kissing and Erik had learned to exploit Charles' incredibly sensitive nipples, but they had not tried anything else. Charles was completely new to the reality of loving another man and of the encounters he had glimpsed in Erik's mind, none of them had involved tenderness of any sort. That made the relationship a very new thing for both of them.
"Just relax," Erik told him, climbing onto the bed as well, also still in his clothes.
It was hard for Charles to hold on to his desire to know as Erik totally failed to begin to strip either of them. What his lover did do was deftly reach into his open fly and underwear and pull out his rapidly hardening cock. Charles didn't even bother to try and stifle the gasp that that move drew out of him.
"I'm going to taste you, Charles," Erik told him, voice low and husky in a way that made Charles' cock twitch with appreciation, "and then I'm going to use my mouth to make you writhe against your bonds. Your job is to try not to scream loud enough to alert the whole house."
"Bloody hell, you're trying to kill me," was about the only response Charles could come up with to that, especially when Erik set about doing what had just been described.
Charles had control of his motor functions for what seemed like an inordinately short time after that. As Erik's shockingly talented tongue did things to the tip of his cock and, when liberal amounts of suction were applied, he thoroughly lost it. Erik played him as if he was a fine instrument and he writhed just as predicted and had to bite his lip hard not to shout rather too loudly.
Despite the number of girls he had managed to pick up in Oxford pubs, he had only ever had two blow jobs in his life and Erik completely blew both of those away. Somehow the fact they both still had their clothes on made it all the more intimate and being held down was driving him completely crazy. He hadn't actually considered that being at Erik's mercy would turn him on quite so completely, but then he was discovering new things about himself daily.
[Please,] he begged when he was so aroused he thought he might explode.
[How can I refuse when you ask so nicely?] Erik replied in kind without so much as pausing in what he was doing.
Charles swore loudly when Erik sucked him hard and then swallowed him to a degree that he was pretty sure should have been physically impossible. He had seen plenty of erotic things in real life and in other peoples' heads in his time, but the sight of Erik sucking on his cock had to be the most incredible. He came so hard that for a while he saw stars and he could only breathe in ragged pants.
Then Erik turned his nerves to rivulets of pure electricity by sucking on him until he was completely spent, apparently relishing every moment. Charles was pretty sure he had died and was in paradise as Erik finally pulled off and smiled at him. He was boneless and wrecked and felt utterly amazing, and he couldn't have put two words together if his life had depended on it.
"I have been wondering how to render you completely speechless," Erik said, radiating pleasure and slowly kneeling up.
"Nghh," was the only reply Charles could come up with.
~*~
Everyone was sat round the large dining room table, but not for a meal. It was time to decide how to proceed.
"Right," Charles said as everyone settled in, "what you all know is that we are after Sebastian Shaw, what most of you don't know is exactly why."
They had decided to leave the explanation until after the younger mutants had perfected some of their powers. After a week and a half everyone's progress had been staggering. Even though Charles had seen it happen in the other timeline, he was still amazed at the reality.
"Shaw is completely insane," Erik said when Charles looked at him; "he wishes to start a nuclear war and wipe out humanity."
"But that would wipe out most mutants as well," Hank pointed out almost instantly, "few mutations will protect against that level of radiation."
"Like Erik said, Shaw is insane," Charles agreed; "he believes nuclear power created us and that it will not destroy us."
He had been inside the man's mind and was all too aware of the madman's psychoses.
"But how can he start a war that big?" Alex asked.
"By convincing the Russians to place missiles in Cuba and running a US blockade," he replied, "but we're not going to let it get that far."
"How?" Sean asked.
"Yes, Charles, how?" Erik said and gave him one of those slightly patronising looks.
"Well I think our first port of call should be Emma Frost," he replied, "Shaw's telepath."
No one contradicted him immediately which was nice.
"Go on," Erik said.
"I can use Cerebro to contact her," he explained. "She's not an idiot, she has to know Shaw is completely unstable and with an alternative option she may chose to change sides. Even if she doesn't, once contact is made we will have a location."
"But we don't have Cerebro," Raven pointed out.
"It's back at the base," Hank added as if he thought maybe Charles had forgotten.
Charles smiled and nodded.
"Yes, but we walked out perfectly easily, I don't see why we can't sneak back in and borrow the facilities," he said, playing with his pen as he spoke. "Between us, Erik and I can get us in and once we are in the dome no one has to know we are there. It's not as if they will be expecting us to come back."
[Mental, completely mental,] came so loudly from Sean's direction that Charles was pretty sure he would have heard it from the next room.
"Can you pinpoint every member of personnel in the base before we go in?" Erik asked, an eminently practical question of course.
"Yes," he replied.
"Can you divert or disable anyone we come across so they are never aware we have even been there?"
"Yes."
"Then it's feasible," Erik said with a nod, which kind of shocked Charles; he had expected more resistance.
"Anyone else have any objections?" he asked, but everyone shook their heads. "Right, then I suggest we prepare for tomorrow night."
There were a few nervous looks between the younger mutants, but no one disagreed. Nervousness hung in the air as everyone dispersed, but it was tinged with excitement.
"Charles," Raven caught up with him as he was leaving the room.
"Yes?" he asked, pulling his mind back from thinking about his coming discussion with Emma Frost.
Raven took hold of his wrist and lifted it, pushing back the sleeve.
"What's this?"
He had known someone would spot one of the cuffs sooner or later, since he was wearing them most of the time.
"Just something Erik and I are working on," he replied with what he hoped was a convincing smile.
"Then why are you wearing them now?" Raven asked. "I saw you had something on at breakfast."
"Time," he lied smoothly, even though he hated doing it, "everyone's so busy preparing Erik and I are never sure when we'll get time to practice. We're thinking something like these might be useful in dangerous situation, but we're not sure yet so we're using me as a guinea pig."
Raven looked sceptical.
"You're letting Erik throw you around aren't you," she said and he had to concentrate very hard on not blushing.
"Something like that," he managed to say with a perfectly straight face.
"Just be careful," Raven told him, "I don't want to have to remove his spleen if he hurts you."
The idea of Raven going up against Erik made him smile, talk about beauty and the beast. It helped that he wasn't sure who would win.
~*~
It really was pathetically easy to break back into the top secret CIA base and it did make Charles wonder if there was any facility in the world they couldn't just walk into if they so chose. He distracted and diverted any personnel while Erik opened locked doors and Hank dealt with any hi-tech barriers. The others were mostly along in case everything went pear shaped.
Cerebro was there waiting for them and once Hank had disabled any outside indicators on the dome, they fired the computer up. Standing there with the headset on, waiting for Hank to finish preparations, Charles prayed that Emma Frost would see sense. It would be far easier to deal with Shaw if there were no other mutants in the way.
"Ready when you are," Hank said and snapped him to attention.
"Do it," he replied.
Charles closed his eyes and waited for the shock to his system that always came when Hank started Cerebro. This time he refused to let himself fall into the chaos that always came at first; he was only after one mutant not just flitting from random contact to random contact. For a few moments he remained perfectly still on the psychic level, allowing his perception to adjust and then he began to reach out.
After the first few minutes he completely lost track of time, simply following instincts that he still didn't quite understand. His advantage was that he had been inside Emma's mind in the other timeline so he knew what he was looking for. It took a great deal of concentration, but eventually he found her and her tightly guarded mind.
[Miss Frost,] he projected as he very gently skimmed her mental presence, [I was wondering if we could have a quiet word?]
What he felt instantly was shock. He had done the telepathic equivalent of sneaking up behind her and then tapping her on the shoulder, so he wasn't overly surprised.
[Please,] he added as he felt her reach for her diamond form.
That one word was apparently the right thing to say because Emma did not vanish from his perception.
[Telepath, how do you know my name?]
It almost felt like an attack as the words came back like diamond edged blades, but then he assumed she was demonstrating her strength.
[When we met the other night I picked a few things up, Charles Xavier, pleased to meet you again.]
He wasn't about to tell her that most of the information didn't come from the current reality.
[I don't like snoopers in my head.]
[Yes, well, I didn't actually know you were going to be there, so please forgive the intrusion.]
The fact she didn't know quite how to take him made him smile; Emma had obviously never expected him to be civil.
[What do you want?] she asked.
[I'd like to talk to you about ideologies and a possible alliance,] he explained and he knew she would know he was being perfectly serious.
[You wish to speak to my employer?] immediately came back.
[No, Miss Frost,] he replied, [I wish to speak with you. How can I put this, your employer is, shall we say, a complete bloody nutcase.]
The fact that Emma was partially amused by that was a good sign.
[I believe this conversation is over,] she said and he had the distinct impression she thought he was a ridiculous amateur.
[Please, Miss Frost,] he said before she could cut him off, [how can you lose by speaking with me? If I am the imbecile you seem to believe you may learn useful information.]
[And if you are not you may attempt to do the same,] Emma pointed out.
[You have my word I will not attempt to pry into your mind, Miss Frost,] he told her solemnly, [if I had wanted to do that I would have done so when I surprised you. Your mind is strong, but I have a few tricks of my own.]
[How are you even reaching me?] That at least was a genuine question.
[A machine,] he revealed, [it is extending my range. It took me quite a while to find you.]
[A CIA machine?]
[Technically, yes,] he replied, [although I have recently changed my status to self-employed; it seemed more prudent. That's part of what I wished to speak to you about.]
[I didn't think they just let you leave the CIA.]
[Yes well, it wasn't as if I asked, a few friends and I simply left and didn't provide a forwarding address.]
[So you're on the run and...]
[You misunderstand me, Miss Frost,] he interrupted her, [we are far from refugees, we are simply independent. We would like to be independent and united.]
He felt her mental laugh as distinctly as if she was standing next to him.
[You are asking me to join you?] Emma sounded incredulous. [What could you possibly offer me?]
[I may not own a submarine, Miss Frost,] he told her, [but I can offer a place of safety and a future. A nuclear war will destroy most of us as well, not just the humans, and a half dead planet cannot sustain life, not even mutant life.]
[How did you know ..?] Emma stopped herself from saying more.
[How do I know Shaw's plans?] Charles sent back. [That would take far too long to explain, but suffice to say I know all about Cuba. But back to the point, somewhere along the way Sebastian Shaw or should I say, Herr Doktor Schmidt, has lost his mind. He believes in a possible future based on pure fallacy. The nuclear winter would destroy the planet and the radiation would create mutations of the horrific kind, not of our kind. Humanity is evolving, but attempting to speed it up with a nuclear blast will result in extinction.]
[Just words...]
[Science actually, I am a professor of genetics, Miss Frost. The CIA didn't come to me originally because they knew I was a mutant, they came to me because of my knowledge and one of them had seen you. I was an idealistic idiot at the time, but have since seen the error of my ways and would very much like to not end up in an open war that we cannot win.]
[We are far stronger than them,] Emma protested.
[And far too few,] he replied. [You are a highly intelligent young woman, Miss Frost, the sums just do not add up. All that will come of war is pain and all that will come of us being divided is conflict that we do not need. You may share Sebastian Shaw's ideals, but you do not share his psychosis. With your help we can bring this madness to an end before the humans ever need to know how close they came or how powerful we really are.]
[You have nothing to offer me.]
[Stability, a home, others like yourself, safety, do none of those sound appealing? I will leave you to think about it, Miss Frost. If you are willing to speak further allow me to contact you at the same time tomorrow night. If not, then it has been a pleasure conversing with another like myself and we shall see each other on the battlefield. I am sorry to say I will not be so gentle if it comes to that.]
He withdrew before she could object or reply; it was always a good idea to let people think things over.
"Well?" Erik asked as soon as he opened his eyes.
"She is thinking about it," he replied and pushed the sensors away from his head. "We will contact her again tomorrow for her answer."
He turned to Hank.
"Did the coordinates come through okay?"
"Perfectly."
"Then if she says no, tomorrow we will have to use them," he concluded and stepped off of the platform.
With Emma Frost's help their campaign would be far easier, but without it could work as well.
~*~
"Frost may attempt to attack you," Erik pointed out after they had returned to the mansion.
"And I'm prepared for that," Charles replied and smiled as Erik automatically followed him into his room. "I may still be idealistic in many ways, but I am not stupid."
Erik's expression said the man disagreed.
"If she hurts you, I will hurt her."
That made Charles smile even more; Erik's protectiveness was kind of sweet, also homicidal and a little creepy, but Charles liked it. He had always looked after himself and in turn Raven, because she was like his little sister, it was new and exciting to have someone trying to look after him.
"Thank you," he said, because he appreciated the sentiment.
He decided that maybe it was time to broach a subject that had been on his mind since the whole mind shattering blowjob incident. Unfortunately he began to flush just thinking about it.
"Charles, why are you blushing?" Of course Erik noticed.
"Well," he said, trying to make himself just say it, "that is I was wondering, if maybe, you might consider ..."
Erik was just looking confused and Charles shook himself; he was very bad about talking about sex. Partaking of sex he could handle, talking about it, not so much.
"Would you care to engage in intercourse?" he asked and it sounded so formal and stilted that he was pretty sure he would put Erik off right off the bat.
The way Erik looked at him he felt an idiot and blushed even more.
"I've never done it, but I am aware of the mechanics given that I went to Oxford with a large number of English Public school boys totally unaware there was a telepath among them," he hurried on. "I do have what we might need, but I also understand if you would rather no..."
He was silenced by Erik kissing him hard enough to bruise.
[Shall I take that as a yes?] he asked in relief as Erik pulled him very close and used one hand to grab a large handful of his arse.
Erik smiled against his mouth, clearly amused at his stumbling, but the erection pushing against his thigh spoke of considerable arousal as well.
[I would love to engage in intercourse, Professor,] Erik told him, teasing him very directly.
[Then I think, Mr Lehnsherr,] he replied in kind, [we are wearing too many clothes.]
Taking that as an invitation, Erik started to undress him. He had picked up the pure delight that Erik seemed to feel on peeling him out of his multiple layers, so he never tried to do it himself. It had not taken Erik long to become more efficient at it than he was himself, even with the tendency Erik had to stop and just touch him every now and then.
He did manage to get Erik's belt and fly undone before he was completely stripped, but the turtlenecks always defeated him, so he let Erik do that himself. By the time they were done there were clothes all over the place, but Charles didn't care in the slightest as Erik pushed him down on the bed. This he had become very good at and for a while they just played their usual game of touching and kissing as they both sank into the mood.
It was only when Erik pushed up onto those strong arms so that his lover was looking down at him that Charles knew they were about to move on.
"So," Erik said, looking at him hungrily, "do you wish to give or receive?"
Charles felt his stomach flip, he hadn't really expected to be asked, he had just assumed that Erik with his prior experience would be in charge.
"Receive," he said and watched Erik's eyes dilate with pure arousal; that had definitely been the right thing to say.
"Where is the ..?" He pointed at the dresser before Erik could finish asking.
He had placed the pot of Vaseline in his top drawer two days previously just in case; he was always an optimist.
"Lie down on your front," Erik told him, as his lover climbed off the bed to retrieve what they needed, "it will be easier to begin with."
Licking his lips, Charles did as he was asked and then waited for Erik to return to the bed. He was suddenly incredibly nervous. When the bed springs dipped again, he couldn't even bring himself to look round and just allowed Erik to gently spread his legs.
He had honestly never felt so open and vulnerable as Erik knelt half between his spread thighs and massaged his buttocks. He was all too aware that men did this all the time, he hadn't been kidding about Oxford, but it felt so incredibly intimate and just a little wrong.
"Relax and stop thinking, Charles," Erik told him, "I can feel you from here. All you have to concentrate on is telling me if anything is too much or it hurts."
He mumbled his reply into the pillow, but even he wasn't sure what he had been trying to say, so it made no sense. He was sure he was blushing all over, but he did his best to do as Erik told him. He wanted this, he had asked for this and even though he felt acute embarrassment at Erik touching him there, he was going to see it through. He only hoped that Erik didn't notice the fact his cock was beginning to deflate with the pure mortification he was feeling.
When Erik spread his arse cheeks, he pushed his head into the pillow and tried not to die of embarrassment and then a lubricated finger swiped over his hole. Suddenly he wasn't so much embarrassed as conflicted and quickly heading back to aroused. So many nerves fired at the same time he moaned quietly.
"I think you may be getting the idea," Erik said and stroked his arse again.
He still felt incredibly exposed, but as Erik touched him it was beginning to make Charles excited rather than ashamed and nervous. Seeing flashes of what other people were doing was nothing to being part of the actual event and he found that some of his muscles were actually trembling with excitement. He and Erik had been intimate since they had come to the mansion, but this was taking it to a much higher level.
Erik was treating him very gently, upping the pressure only very slowly and when Erik finally pushed a finger into him his muscles just opened as if they were meant for it. Not that that stopped him gasping and shifting and Erik stopped moving instantly.
"Charles, are you alright?" Erik asked in a very serious tone.
He only managed a hum in reply.
"Charles?" Erik repeated, clearly very serious about having his consent.
"Yes," he replied, "don't stop."
It was a very strange feeling, but an incredibly arousing one as well, especially when Erik began to move his finger again.
He doubted very much that anyone had been this gentle with Erik, but his lover seemed determined to make sure everything was perfect for him. In fact Erik's attention to detail was a little bit agonising in places, because Erik slowly opened him, slowly being the word and Charles found that his cock was so incredibly hard it actually ached. He was a little bit awed by how easily his body opened up to Erik's fingers if he was truthful. He knew it was possible of course, but knowing and doing were two entirely different experiences.
After the second finger he entirely gave up trying to control himself and moaned quite loudly. If anyone happened to be walking past his door and heard him it was their own lookout.
"My god, Charles," Erik said, the first words he had uttered in quite a while, "you are beautiful like this."
That just made Charles moan some more and push back on the three fingers embedded deep in his arse.
"Want you, please, now," he said, needing the next level of intimacy like he needed air.
The loss of Erik's fingers made him feel empty and wanting, but as Erik urged him onto his hands and knees he knew it wouldn't be long before he had what he wanted. The pot of Vaseline fell back to the bed momentarily and then Erik moved in close behind him.
The first push of Erik's cock into his body was a bit of a shock, but he grunted and willed his muscles to relax. The fact that Erik stilled as soon as he made a sound was actually worse.
"Move dammit," he just about managed to say coherently and almost took matters into his own hands.
"Patience," Erik told him, holding his hips firmly and slowly beginning to push in again, "I do not want to hurt you."
"You're not," he promised, but the last word dissolved into a long moan as Erik filled him.
He had never imagined quite what it would feel like. It was not just the physical sensation that was utterly encompassing, it was the knowledge of what he was doing and who he was doing it with. This was the closest two human men could come and even as he registered that thought he felt his mind trying to bridge the gap as well. He was overcome with the desire to share every part of himself and he had to claw on to his self control as Erik began to move inside of him.
Erik's strong hands on his body, Erik's cock going deep into the heart of him, Erik's mind floating at the edges of his consciousness; it was all hypnotising. His usual awareness of his immediate vicinity faded away as Erik took everything he was offering. It was honestly better than he had ever dreamed and he gave himself up to it completely.
His arousal built and built, becoming a tight knot in his loins and he felt Erik's need and desire worming its way under his skin as well. He felt ready to explode in all ways and he knew he couldn't control it for long.
"Erik," he panted, trying to give some warning, "can't ... need ..."
"Give in," was all Erik said in return and Charles had no choice but to do just that.
As his body and mind exploded at the same time, the most he could do was focus solely on Erik, opening himself up completely and sharing everything. This was not something he wanted to accidentally project into anyone else's dreams and so he concentrated completely on Erik.
Everything turned into a haze of emotion and orgasm and he lost track of his own body somewhere, feeling everything that was going through them both. He refused to let go completely, keeping it all to just them, but that meant all his barriers between himself and Erik were worth nothing. For a while they were one being, sharing every sensation, every base thought, until finally Charles managed to drag his awareness back towards himself.
Separating himself from Erik mentally was almost as uncomfortable as Erik carefully pulling out of his body. He was a telepath, at a fundamental level he wanted to share other minds and be shared in return and it took a great deal of effort to convince his brain to follow his instructions.
As Erik pulled him onto his side, spooning up behind him, he felt slightly sore in mind and body and he couldn't help smiling. Never with any other person had he felt the need to be one quite so completely. It could have been the fact that Erik was a mutant or it could just have been Erik, he didn't know and he couldn't bring himself to care.
"That was amazing," he said quietly when he could finally speak again.
Erik ran a hand down his side and kissed him lightly on the neck.
[Yes,] was the silent reply.
Charles registered that he felt sticky and sweaty, but as Erik pulled the cover up over them both he didn't object. He had no wish to break what was left of their connection by moving and he wasn't overly sure his legs would hold him yet anyway. Lying against Erik he let his eyes drift close and floated free of all care for a while.
~*~
[Good evening, Miss Frost,] he said as he initiated contact the next night.
[What did you have in mind?] The question was cold and did not give away any information from Emma's end.
[Straight to business then,] he replied. [You are a very direct woman, Miss Frost.]
[And you are procrastinating, Xavier,] Emma replied.
[We were hoping that with your assistance we could resolve this without too much destruction,] he told her. [Of course exactly how would have to be decided with your assistance.]
[That's your entire plan?]
[We are very flexible,] he replied, [and very capable.]
[A fanatic, an amateur G-man and a handful of untrained mutants,] Emma shot back. [You are not even a threat.]
[If you believe that, Miss Frost, why are you even talking to me?]
Nothing came back over their connection for a while and he knew he had asked the right question.
[You said the blast would kill mutants as well as humans.]
[It will destroy just about everything in its path,] Charles replied; [I can show you the statistics if you wish. I have a colleague who is very good at facts and figures. Shaw has a rather unique relationship with energy and he has forgotten we are not all so protected. Have you never suspected he is not sane?]
Again there was silence and Charles was pretty sure he had hit a nerve.
[What happens if we help you?]
His heart almost skipped a beat when she said 'we'; it made it clear she had spoken to Shaw's other mutants.
[You would be welcome to join us or go your own way, I am sure Shaw's wealth could keep you in the manner to which you have become accustomed.]
He did not do her the disservice or asking if she could get to it.
[You would just let us leave?]
[Of course, Miss Frost,] he replied, [we do not wish to force anybody into servitude. If at a later date we were to come into conflict I cannot guarantee the outcome, but the future is forever changing. Our aim is to stop Shaw, what comes after that is up for discussion.]
[How solid is your base of operations?]
An interesting question, but Charles could understand it. Rather than replying in words he sent her some mental images of the inside of the mansion. He showed her nothing that would give away their location, but enough to make his point.
[You weren't kidding when you said you weren't homeless,] Emma replied and sounded surprised.
[There are many things you do not know about me,] he said, enjoying the ominous quality of his words; he thought Erik would be proud of him.
For a while he was left to his own thoughts and he allowed Emma her privacy.
[Shaw takes an hour a day to recharge in the reactor,] was what finally came back and Charles mentally cheered inside his own head. [He is totally cut off while he does.]
[That certainly sounds like a window of opportunity, Miss Frost,] he replied, making sure his mental voice was calm.
Things were beginning to fall into place and they began to talk strategy.
On to Part 3