-The word mutant won't pop up for awhile because in this world it takes them quite awhile before they find out that powers are normally linked to the X-Gene.
-I am aiming for 3-4 Chapters of this fic, over half is written already so it won't be abandoned.
-I don't have a beta so if you notice any grammar or spelling mistakes please let me know I'd really like to fix them, thank you.
Brisk wind felt like it blew right through his body, a body that had already been shaking in large tremors that extended from hands to feet. Turning his eyes up towards the sky the young boy, no older than eight, let the rain pelt his cheeks as he knelt on the ground and felt his pants soaking through with the sky-water and...something a bit thicker.
Even as the raindrops hit his open steely-blue colored eyes the irritation didn't register. Nonetheless, the boy looked down at his shaking hands, they were covered in red that was slowly being muted by the mixture of rain that attempted to wash it away like chalk on a sidewalk.
"...Mama?...Papa?"
~.~.~.~.~
Waking up the way he had almost half of his nights since he was a young boy, Erik Lehnsherr peeled his eyes open and stared at the ceiling of his large and quite luxurious room. Even the silk sheets, king sized bed and pillows upon pillows could never soothe away the nightmare that plagued his mind most night and caused him to wake up covered in cold sweat that quickly dried his skin to the bed sheets.
A nightmare that occurred so often that he no longer woke up in the middle of it because it terrified him so, no longer did he wake up screaming or having a fit from it. Now the dream simply lit an anger inside of the young man's stomach, a fire that would not be extinguished so easily and that had been festering for a long time awaiting its day to be set free.
Sitting up in bed, peeling himself from the sticky sheets so that he could take a refreshing shower, Erik ran a hand through his mussy short hair before getting ready for the day. After all, he had a fortune 500 company to run that he had inherited from his parents, they had built it together and left it in their only child's capable hands.
Lehnsherr Industries had started out in shipping, not only inside of the U.S where his parents had immigrated to from Germany years ago but also to many other countries using planes and ships. When Erik had inherited the business he had already set his mind on becoming quite the tycoon himself and branch out from just what his parents had created.
Ultimately, he had succeeded. Branching Lehnsherr Industries into other things, the biggest being manufacturing which they had plants to make just about everything from toys to auto-parts and even a jewelry side business. Easy enough to say that Erik would not be going poor anytime soon even if several of the branches suddenly became bankrupt.
Despite being rich and a bit of a snob, his own words for himself, the young enterpriser was not stingy with his money. Employees were paid well above average rates and given quite decent benefits, when the economy had been falling several years prior Erik had been named 'Kindest Businessman of 2009' in Time Magazine for not dropping his pay rates or anything of the such.
He often donated to charities, sent out college scholarships and many more things that could be listed off. Even with so much fame, money and success, Erik had never been photographed dating the same person twice and was known at events for having a bad attitude. Known for being a bit grumpy or the opposite, too playful depending on who he was talking to and what about.
Today the billionaire was responsible for a single task, going to his newest business Lehnsherr Pharmaceuticals that had been open a brief six months ago at the very end of 2016 but doing quite well so far. Stocks, sales, and creation of products were on a steady rise but any new company and project required some close watching on his part before he would be comfortable leaving it to the employee's capable hands.
Donning a dark gray Brunello Cucinelli suit Erik headed outside of one of his homes, this one sat on the edge of a lake right on the outskirts of Gotham City and was a very modern style. A limo awaited him, prompt and on time as usual to take him where he needed to be, and that would be over to the neighboring city of Metropolis where the new company was located.
The drive wasn't long, or it didn't feel as such when Erik gazed out his tinted window as Gotham passed him by and soon turned into the bright and sunny city of Metropolis. A large building among many others came into view that the limo pulled up to, the driver came around to open the door for Erik who stepped out and tugged at his suit to straighten it. "Thank you." then headed inside.
As expected, Erik was greeted immediately by an expecting Secretary. Smiling in a professional manner she stood up, her name tag read Anna Marie and she shook Erik's hand strongly. "Welcome Mr. Lehnsherr, we're happy to have you drop in on us today. Allow me to show you to who will be giving you the tour and answer your questions."
Holding up a hand Erik gave very light and brief smile, "No need I can find my way, don't trouble yourself. Just direct me where and who I should ask for." She only hesitated a moment to make sure Erik wasn't joking or would change his mind, "Very well sir. Elevator to the right here, take it up to the 12th floor and ask for a Mr. Xavier."
Standing inside of an elevator alone on a long way up with nothing to keep you company than the slow eerie music was unsettling for anyone and more so for Erik who had a minor bout of claustrophobia. He could handle it but it definitely made him uncomfortable, had it not been so high up the man would have preferred taking the stairs.
The small beep was music to his ears when the doors slid open and Erik freed himself from the small space, the twelfth floor seemed to be mainly cubicles and stationary work. Walking over to the nearest desk that was inhabited Erik cleared his throat to get the attention of the young man, who he could only assume would be an intern of some sort, and asked, "Where can I find a Mr. Xavier?"
Head perking up the smaller man stood straight, he wore a very professional looking pair of black trousers with a matching vest and tie that went with it. "You're looking at him sir, Charles Xavier-" he extended his hand in greeting, "Very nice to meet you Mr. Lehnsherr."
Taking the hand without question the businessman did quirk an eyebrow, "You are? I thought you were an intern." The comment didn't seem to bother Charles who had a knowing look in his eyes, "Well I am only twenty-three but I promise you sir, I do have a Master's degree in genetics and a Bachelor's in data management."
"That's quite impressive Mr. Xavier, if you work as well as your degrees make me expect then I'm more than happy to have you aboard." the older man complimented, Charles seemed to beam at the praise and gathered some paperwork together before gesturing Erik with him down the rows of cubicles. "Thank you, let's get started. I'm going to show you all of the things we've been working on and I'll answer all of your questions sir."
The tour had been quite exceptional, Charles and the rest of the employees seemed to have things together well. Erik had given his two cents here and there about how they could improve, Charles wrote them all down in a notebook to go over later but was mostly met with gentle praise from his boss. The tour and questions came to a close, ending with them in one of the employee lounges that were empty.
Charles brought him a cup of coffee and glanced at the tv mounted on the wall, he reached for the remote about to turn off the News that was playing. "Wait. Turn it up." Erik requested and listened when he could hear.
"-in downtown Gotham last night the violent vigilante known by many as Magneto was spotted leaving the scene of a then discovered human trafficking building-" the footage was blurry and caught at night by what looked to be a civilian's phone camera.
Shaking his head lightly Charles turned the tv off, "Please sir, I'd rather not watch things of that nature." "And why is that?" Erik couldn't help himself but ask.
"I guess I simply don't approve of such things." when Erik didn't seem to catch on to what Charles meant he continued, "Unnecessary violence. A man with such an amazing ability as this Magneto has could do so much good, and sure he does some...but the level of violence he uses is outlandish. Murdering the criminals cruelly and sometimes his anger gets the best of him and he causes a lot more destruction than-oh I-I'm so sorry sir. I went off on a tangent, this is why I try not to watch Gotham News." he apologized quickly.
Feelings bubbled inside of Erik's chest, his employee's words were hitting hard and were making him quite irritable. How could someone as normal and probably privileged as Charles Xavier know anything about Erik's life or how he tried to help others. Sure he did cause messes and kill scumbags but all for the greater good of innocent people.
"...Yes, don't worry about it. I'm the one who asked anyways." he responded, the air between the men was thick with tension. Even so, having spoken nothing but his honest opinion Erik couldn't find it in himself to hate Charles.
~.~.~.~.~
Three months later, the September air had begun chilling the twin cities that separated only by the bay between them. It marked the three-year mark of how long Erik had become Gotham's vigilante Magneto, that did not count the several years before his first appearance spent in preparations to be ready for the public to see him out and in action should he get caught on camera's or the polices watchful eye.
One evening, Erik had been dressed up and going to an event just like any other night. He'd had no vigilante work planned but as always he kept a spare Magneto outfit in a secret trunk of his car for emergencies. The event had been for fundraising for a new program for Gotham's orphanages, he hadn't paid too much attention to what it even did but Erik had heard endless praise for it from employees and in the papers. That was good enough for him to come see what the fuss was and probably invest.
Arriving fashionably late by forty-five minutes for the pre-party Erik drove up in his modified 1956 Chevy Bel Air only to find the building being evacuated and literally on fire. He hadn't been planning on interfering, this was more of a police or fireman thing but then he just had to spot a glint of purple energy on the upper floors. Psylocke.
Pulling around into a dark back alley the man quickly pulled out his red-colored disguise with a cape and helmet that covered everything but his eyes to keep his identity secret. "Shit, I was actually looking forward to just drinking and maybe taking someone home tonight." he grumbled. Settling the helmet onto his head Magneto used his powers to lift himself off of the ground and up the levels of the building where he'd seen the purple light, breaking a window easily and stepping inside at the ready.
He had no need to ask her motivation, Magneto already knew all he needed about Psylocke or Elizabeth Braddock. Born like many to a normal family and then given up for some reason or another to an orphanage which had not treated her kindly the least. Her motive here was clear, revenge for the way she had been treated as a child which had caused her to become a criminal with her manifested powers of psychic purple energy beams that could slice through almost anything.
She had long since been labeled mentally insane but every time the police or Magneto seemed to catch up to her, she disappeared for a long time only to resurface very randomly. Like that night.
Fire crackled as it spread slowly, it wasn't too much of a threat since the sprinklers were helping to keep it at bay and becoming engulfing. The building was silent other than the fire, that is until Magneto heard two high pitched screams and the sound of Psylocke's energy katana slicing through a wall and crumbling.
Following the noise the vigilante found himself on a storage floor, there were shelves upon shelves that had boxes of paperwork filed away inside of them. Many shelves having been shoved or fallen over but in the corner of the room stood Psylocke, energy sword in hand and held up threatening. She stopped all movement to glance behind herself back at her enemy, then smiled, "Lovely of you to join us."
Behind the woman, she had trapped between the wall and herself two kids looking to just be hitting their teens and a man who was attempting to shield them from harm. Magneto recognized the man, how could he forget the face of one Charles Xavier who had made his blood boil at the end of their tour several months ago talking about how he didn't approve of Magneto. He would just have to show the man up by rescuing him.
He had heard that some of his employees had planned to come to the event but never would Magneto have guessed one had been Charles, who quite admirably had been brave enough to stay behind to protect some of the children who hadn't made it out in time when the destruction had begun.
"Step away from the civilians Psylocke." he ordered in a deep voice, it was clearly audible but slightly muffled by the part of his helmet that covered his mouth. It helped to disguise his voice and he hoped that Charles would not recognize him. With a devious smile the woman turned, her long dark hair falling over her shoulders that she brushed behind her back with one hand.
"You're more fun to play with anyways." she didn't seem scared in the least and lunged forward, thrusting her energy sword towards her enemy with intent to kill. The masked vigilante ducked and raised his hand, commanding the metal shelving units to mold to his will and curl around the woman like a straight jacket. She lost balance, stumbling back still with sword in hand as she fell back into a wall and struggled against the metal. "Damn you!" she cried.
In an attempt to cut the metal with her sword Psylocke tripped herself and rolled onto the ground, her sword energy spiked spontaneously and cut into the wall and part of the ceiling. Drywall, concrete and the like began to crumble from the violent disturbance and Magneto stood and watched with a lazy hand on his hip. "I've got you this time, you're not getting away."
"Hey Mr. Hero!" a familiar deep and British voice called with an irate tone. "Want to stop admiring your work and be an actual hero?! Getting these kids out of here should be your first priority!" Just like it had months ago at the end of the tour Magneto's blood felt like it was boiling being told what to do, he hated being told what to do. He may have had some slight control issues buried deep under his surface.
"Don't tell me what to do." he said in his own deep voice but stalked over to the man who still had two cowering children behind him. His eyes met the blue ones of his employee's but was surprised to find no malice in them, only a mixture of expectations, courage, and fear. "Look just get off your high horse and get these two down to the ground." the man still said back strongly.
The two young boys were peeking around Charles like he was the hero and glanced at the vigilante with worry. His own steely eyes softened at the children, Charles was right about one thing and that was that the kids should come first. Kneeling down Magneto held out his arms and said, "Come here, I'll get you downstairs."
The elevator would be too risky and the stairs had begun to catch fire so Magneto's only safe option for the kids would be to simply fly them down. One of the boys looked up at Charles with question only to be met with a soft smile and touch to the top of his head as the man said, "Don't worry, he's like a superhero." News always went back and forth on what they said about Magneto so it was no wonder the kids weren't sure to make of him in the flesh.
With reassurance they went with the masked man and were taken down to the ground, looking back up to where he'd come from Magneto sighed and muttered under his breath and mask, "I suppose I shouldn't let him burn up in there." There had been no actual thought or want to leave Charles to get out on his own, Magneto simply liked to complain.
Taking himself back up and through the window he had exited from to get the kids down the man looked around and called, "Hey! Where did you go?" Psylocke was still left struggling on the ground, having gotten some of the metal pried off but Magneto just molded it back in place and added another shelving unit to her restraining metals.
Walking back through the storage room Magneto caught glimpse of movement and went straight to it, finding Charles Xavier leaning heavily on one of the large shelves. He hadn't noticed before but his employee was indeed wounded, there was a slice on the right side of his hips that was leaking blood. At first glance, it seemed shallow but the loss of blood mixed with fear of being attacked had left the man shaking and immobile.
"Shit...come on, let's get you out of here." the taller man held his arm out for Charles to come closer, only to be refused. "I'm fine." he said stubbornly despite that his feet were barely keeping himself up. Magneto's eyebrows knit together in a scrunch, "You daft and stubborn man, come on!"
Reaching out he grabbed Charles' upper arm and started to drag him along back to the broken window Magneto had been using as an exit. Sirens were loud out the side of the building, firefighters had been working their way up through the floors to extinguish flames and evacuate any leftover citizens. With intent to rescue just the man with him and then to head off home Magneto stopped and looked out the side of the building, smoke had started to drift its way up and through the opening to fill the large room they were in.
Police at the bottom spotted him and aimed their guns upwards at him, using a megaphone they called, "Magneto, we're going to have to ask you to come with us! Come willingly or we will have to open fire!" The police had never been fond of him and had pages of crimes he'd committed to arresting with him. Even if they had been laws broken to serve justice in the end. They would probably try to pin this whole thing on him even if he turned Psylocke over as well as turning himself in.
"Hold on dammit, I've got someone with me-!" he yelled back down, he could outrun and outfly the police any day. "Did you hear that? he has a hostage!" His hearing managed to pick up over the loud noises blaring through the area. Letting go of Charles' arm the man slowly slid down to the ground to sit and rest while holding a hand over his wounded side, in no shape to be yelling back at the cops that he was being saved not harmed.
"No not a hostage I just wan-" he was cut off with gunfire. Holding his hand up Magneto deflected the metal bullets easily, "Idiots! What if you shot the hostage!? I mean-shit, he's not a hostage!" his words seemed to mean nothing to the cops below, great, his night was just going great.
As he focused intently on deflecting bullets, waiting until the policemen and women down below ran out so he could quickly drop Charles on the ground and be on his merry way, Psylocke managed to get one of her arms free and sat up swinging her sword sporadically. "Fu-will everyone just calm down!?" the vigilante cried out and caught a large metal beam that had fallen through the ceiling and swung it into the woman's face, breaking her nose with a large crack and knocking her out effectively.
Unfortunately, the metal had swung a bit more than he had intended, almost smacking Mr. Xavier on the back of his head and succeeding in knocking him out as well. "Fucking hell!" Sick of being attacked, shot at, yelled at by his own employee and just having his night ruined in general, Magneto picked Psylocke up by the metal she had been encased in and flung her out the window at the cops feet. All gunshots had stopped and he could hear them going to inspect her.
Scooping Charles' up behind his back and under his legs, Magneto checked his pulse and breath which seemed alright. "Probably a nasty concussion...I'm about to do something really stupid." he groaned and in the cover of the police taking care of Psylocke and the smoke billowing around the building the man took his employee and fled the scene. Taking them both back to his secret hideout and checking Charles over in his mini-hospital recovery room.
~.~.~.~.~
It seemed a bit dramatic even to himself but Erik had created his secret lair in a large underground cavern beneath his lake-house on the edge of Gotham. It had a medical area equipped with everything a small hospital had, a gym, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and many other things that might or might not be necessary one day in his line of extra activities.
He sincerely had been grateful he'd spent the money on discreetly buying a new-age type of small brain scanner that he could just bring to Charles' bedside instead of having to lift him up into the MRI every time he wanted to check on his brain. He had scanned the man's head once an hour for five hours but saw no deterioration going on, almost normal activity as well so relief relaxed his shoulders that his employee would most likely be alright.
Having had time to calm down, take a shower, nibble on some food and grab a beer between watching his patient Erik had quite a bit of time to think to himself. It had been stupid of him to bring Charles to his cave instead of dropping him off at a hospital, it seemed he always made his own life more complicated than need be.
Sleeping very little Erik had awoken in the early morning and gone to check on Charles, turning the lights on in the room but dimmed. He donned his vigilante outfit and helmet but walked over seeing the man's eyes twitching and starting to wake up with a loud groan. The man rubbed his eyes slowly with the balls of his hands. "Wh-Where...?"
His bright eyes took in the room around him and the tall man standing at his bedside. "You...Mr. Hero." With a roll of his eyes Erik sighed, yeah if Charles could still take the time to call him that he would be fine. "It's Magneto."
"Yeah but that just sounds stupid." the other said in a quiet and tired voice, Erik had been ready to force the man out of his lair but noticed the playful smile on Charles lips. "Thanks for getting those kids out of there. Maybe you aren't as bad as the news makes you sound." Pushing himself to sit up slowly Charle's quickly held his head with both hands, "Oh god my head is killing me..."
"Yeah, about that. I might have accidentally hit you in the head with a metal beam and given you a bad concussion. Don't worry though, I've been keeping an eye on you, your brain is fine but you might be sluggish, have headaches, that sort of stuff for a while. You just need rest."
Lifting the bedsheet that had been neatly pulled over his waist Charles looked down at his hip, "You also stitched up my cut. Not that I'm not grateful but...why didn't you just leave me at a hospital?" Ah, the question that he had been dreading. "I wasn't thinking, the police were shooting at me and you were hurt and unconscious. It just seemed like a good idea at the time to bring you home with me. It wasn't the smartest decision I admit."
"You're not very good at this hero thing." Charles said in an almost affectionate tone before reaching and starting to pull the IV from his arm. "Woh hold on a second!" Erik held a hand up to try and stop him but watched his employee do it without hesitation and then try to get to his feet off of the bed, only to lose balance and have Erik catch him gently by the shoulders. "Concussion, remember? You need to lay down and rest."
"I'm fine." the other insisted stubbornly, his legs slightly bowlegged from how he had slipped. Charles reached up to hold onto Erik's shoulders to try and pull himself up and steady his body but only succeeded in pulling them both together very closely as his legs shook and his head pounded painfully. "I hate hospitals, I'm going home."
"Not unless you have someone at home who can watch over you...Judging by that look you live alone." touching his gloved hand to Charles' back and one down to scoop the man up under the back of his legs Erik moved him back onto the bed against his will. "I've informed your work that you would be taking a week off to heal from an injury, it was approved."
"What...how-you took my phone you bastard!" the smaller man frowned deeply. "Just calm down I didn't look through anything, it's right here on the table for you. By the way, change your password. Birthdays are the easiest thing to find out and guess for passwords." When the younger man tried to get up again Erik pressed his hand to the man's chest to keep him in place.
"I'll move you into a different room so stop fussing!"
After being moved to a different room that resembled more of a sleep quarters than a hospital, Charles calmed down as Erik hoped he would. While sitting on the edge of the bed two hands moved slowly and held the sides of Erik's helmet, which he caught the wrists to still them. Gripping them tightly yet they didn't let go. "What do you think you're doing?" he growled in a rumbling tone.
"Don't I get to see who my savior is? This is everyone's most romantic fantasy after all apart from being rescued by a merman." being moved out of the sterile white room seemed to have improved Charles' mood hence the heavy flirt in his voice. "This isn't a movie Mr. Xavier. You're going to rest, get better, and then I will drop you off back in the city to continue your very normal life."
With a gentle smile and sigh of defeat, Charles pulled his hands back and gave a shrug, then sunk down deep into the covers of his new bed. "Had to give it a try."
The younger man slept long and deep which gave Erik his own chance at catching up on some winks. He awoke after several hours to that familiar nightmare running through his head. Rain. Blood. "...Mama?...Papa?" Shaking the memory from his mind he set off to make himself busy, making two bowls of soup and taking them down to where he had locked Charles in to sleep.
The man was already awake and sitting up when Erik arrived, wearing a normal t-shirt and trousers but not having lost his helmet. "I didn't expect you to be up already...are you alright? You look quite pale." Setting the bowls down on the side table the billionaire touched the back of his hand to Charles' forehead looking for a fever, it was the first time they had touched skin to skin as Erik had been wearing gloves with his costume earlier.
"No fever, how do you feel?" Not pushing the touch away blue eyes looked up to meet Erik's own gaze. "I just had an awful dream, normally I don't remember any of my dreams when I sleep but this time I did. And it was awful."
Nodding Erik took one bowl and set it into Charles' capable hands, "Try to forget about it, eating something might help put your mind at ease." Holding his own bowl of soup the older man grimaced and scrunched his eyes in frustration, "I didn't think this through." his helmet covered his mouth and was not retractable so his only option was to push his helmet up slightly so he could start eating his food.
It looked quite funny Erik was sure not that he couldn't see with metal covering his eyes, but he heard Charles start to giggle and then full on laugh at the sight. "Ahaha! I thought heroes were supposed to be so dignified but you...y-you're pfttt!" Charles laughed until it fizzled out of his system and he ate a few spoonfuls of the hot food in his lap.
Though the laughter wasn't contagious, the smile it created on Charles' face was and soon enough Erik found himself grinning. "Shut up."
Three more days passed them both by, Erik often had to leave and do things he was responsible for but he left Charles with an abundance of things to keep him busy. He had his phone, several thick books Charles had requested, and a tv with all the hookups. Who knew Gotham's Magneto, famous violent vigilante paid for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime just like everyone else.
Everyone morning the billionaire would awake and make them food, every morning he found Charles awake and looking a bit pale with sad eyes from a bad dream that they never spoke about in detail. Other than meals and helping his patient to and from the bathroom, they talked and even played a few rounds of chess when Charles' head wasn't pounding too hard to concentrate.
He hated to say it or even think it but Erik found himself quite fond of his employee, he was a strong-willed man who put passion into everything he cared about and though some of his opinions on politics and criminals made them argue heatedly for minutes on end, Erik found it almost...fun. He was a man used to getting his way, he had money and power and there were few that would disagree with him in both his normal life persona or Magneto persona.
At first, their disagreements had only angered Erik, he had thought Charles just privileged and naive. Over the last day and a half he had come to terms that such a thing wasn't true, Charles simply had something much of the world lacked nowadays particularly in Gotham, hope. He held so much hope and faith in the world changing for the better through kind means that it was sickeningly sweet and had probably given Erik several cavities already.
A spark had flickered between them. It was especially noticeable on the fourth evening after they had left their dinner plates discarded off to the side and focused on a chessboard between them. "Checkmate, hero." Charles announced with a grin, he had prevalently refused to call him by Magneto and in return Erik had declined over and over to give his real first name.
"Damn, you're good at this." though Charles couldn't see it, he could hear the smile on his saviors face behind the metal helmet. "I was in chess club for middle and high school, would have been for college too if they'd had one. Anyways, I was thinking..." oh no, Erik didn't like the mischevious tone Charles used.
"I'm not showing you my face if that's what you're going to ask...again." he denied quickly and started to reset the chess board and make the first move. "No, I've given in on that one. I would like to do something, but I would need you to trust me." The man fluttered his baby blues at Erik with intent, he was sure that Charles knew just how handsome that he was.
"No promises but we can see how it goes?" he left a huge questioning tone on his sentence. Charles picked up the chess board and set it on the floor before scooting himself close to Erik, his legs folded neatly under himself to move into the older man's personal space. Hands touching the sides of Erik's helmet and just as the first time, his hands shot up to grab Charles' wrists. "I told you no."
"Shh, trust me...I'm not de-masking you Mr. Hero." the younger's voice was soft and quiet which forced Erik to listen carefully. Loosening his grip on Charles' wrist but keeping his hands in place just in case the other tried something funny, that was all he could afford to trust someone else. His trust didn't come lightly but he awarded a small amount to his young employee.
The metal was slowly moved up his head and tilted, much like Erik did when he sat in the room and ate with Charles. He couldn't see anything past the darkened view of the inside of his helmet but his mouth could breath fresh air. He could feel the warmth of another's breath against his chin and cheeks before lips met his.
Chaste, non-intrusive and probably very awkward for Charles on the other side of the helmet all Erik could do was sit and let it happen. "Was that ok?" the gentle British tone asked mere centimeters from Erik's own face. "...I'm so sorry, I must have...misread the situation." All of the warmth that had been right in front of Erik suddenly had started pulling away, without thinking he reached out for it.
Finding the soft and warm presence Erik pulled him close by his upper waist, "You didn't." he grunted and pressed forward letting his lips follow Charles' to where they had strayed. Happy to find he hadn't bopped his companion in the face with the metal can on his head, lips found lips and moved slowly together.
Letting out the most content sigh Erik had ever heard from someone, Charles moved his arms around Erik's neck and settled against him. Bodies moved on their own and so did the taller man's hands as they started to ease the other man back to lay on the bed. Fitting himself tenderly against Charles' smaller chest and hips he pushed the man's shirt up past his belly button, fingertips teasingly feathering against the sensitive skin there.
Nothing progressed further than that, a sweet but light kiss, airy touches and then parting from one another. Smiling as they were about to pull back from one another Erik pressed one more breathy kiss to Charles' and then sat up. Everything felt like it started in slow motion, he felt the helmet wobble where it sat on his head and suddenly give way tumbling off of his head before he could fix it.
Snatching the metal piece from the ground where it had clattered Erik stood up and faced away from Charles, but was quite sure the other had already gotten a good look at him. "Mr...Lehnsherr...?" the voiced asked confirming his worry. There was no hiding it then, he turned to face his young employee with a newly fashioned emotionless look on his face. "Yes, Mr. Xavier."
"This um...well it makes no sense and makes a lot of sense all at the same time." his eyes were wide and staring right into Erik trying to put all of this together and not freak out over it. Seeing the distress start to wash upon his boss' features Charles said quickly, "I won't tell anyone! I have no reason to, you saved my life and I don't want to lose my job! Plus...plus I mean, you're a good man."
"You didn't seem to think so when we talked when we first met, I think I remember you calling me overly destructive and violent."
"Yes well, the last few days have changed my mind. Sort of. I still think you could...improve, but before I thought you were just doing things out of your want for spotlight attention and taking out aggression on villains. You're so much more than that, you really do care and I can tell. When it's just you and I in here talking, you're gentle with me in a way I never thought Magneto could be to anyone." the smile Charles provided him with was one that took Erik's breath away, his words were said so earnestly and the admiration in the man's eyes were something Erik wished he could bottle and never let go.
"I trust you." he said finally giving in. "Let's be clear, when you return to work then you and I will pretend like these last few days have never happened. There will be no briberies or anything of the kind if you change your mind, if you try to out me then I will make sure you never work at a big company for the rest of your life."
The threat went over Charles' head who only smiled still, "Understood sir."
Neither of the men had any idea how the news had heard that Charles had a run in with Magneto, but they had. He had been dropped off in the middle of the night at his apartment in Metropolis safe and sound, no words had been exchanged between the two. The very next morning Charles had headed outside and ready to head to work only to find himself swamped with a small crowd of reporters.
Ch2 Preview: Lots of incoming sweetness, love and sexy moments before the hammer inevitably drops in Ch3.