Charles felt oddly proud as he got out of the car, dressed in one of his better suits and Erik standing beside him looking absolutely dashing in his. Erik offered his arm and Charles linked their elbows. They were getting looks from everyone, of course, mutants and humans alike. Their thoughts were loud. Everyone was curious who he was, since they all knew Erik, and many were concerned or cautious. After spending so long in the relative isolation of the mansion, being in a public space again was almost overwhelming.

Charles was just grateful Erik didn't notice his slight pause and led them inside the restaurant with a gentle grip on Charles's arm. Charles couldn't help moving a little closer to Erik; he had never been much of an introvert but with all the eyes on him Charles was already feeling anxious. They were greeted by the host the moment they entered the high end restaurant and he led them to a somewhat isolated table with an excellent view of nearby Central Park.

Charles was doing his best to ignore the judgement of 'Magneto's pet human' radiating from the host. Erik must have noticed it too because he stepped forward to pull out Charles's seat for him before the waiter or host could. Charles smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, love." He said sweetly before he sat down. Erik even pushed his chair in and kissed his head before taking his own seat in a way that radiated innate power. Charles had to admit; seeing Erik effortlessly self confident like that it made his pulse pick up just a little.

The host certainly noticed their display and shifted his stance a little. Outwardly he looked no less professional, and even offered a pleasant smile to Erik when the mutant looked at him, but Charles could feel he was put off. Charles felt like he should be more concerned at the obvious speciesism the mutant had, but since it was coming from an almost pridefully protective feeling towards Erik Charles couldn't fault the man for it.

"Your menus." He set them down before taking a step back. "Please, don't hesitate to ask for me if there's anything I can do for you, Magneto." He added. Erik nodded once, the mutant bowed briefly, and then they were left alone.

It was less tense than Charles expected and quickly he was enjoying himself. It was great, actually, to be out in public with Erik. Eating and drinking and just enjoying themselves. He could feel the other restaurant patrons eyes on them constantly and he picked up on their thoughts easily as most were projecting. Quite loudly. They were almost all mutants and while a few of them concerned about Magneto obviously doting on a human, most were just innocently curious about him. There were a few that were even jealous, not of Charles (though there were certainly more than a few who were), but of Erik.

The food and drinks were excellent, not that Charles expected anything less. And by the time they had finished eating he was slightly buzzed and had once again gotten used to the other nearby minds pushing against his. Erik had relaxed too, as more time passed. "Enjoying yourself?" Erik asked after a beat of silence and Charles nodded.

"Of course. Are you?" He asked, despite knowing the answer, and Erik nodded. Erik was going to ask him something else, Charles caught that much of his thought, before Erik suddenly sat up straight. Charles didn't have time to figure out whatever had caught Erik's attention as less than a second later one of the restaurant walls exploded.

Charles barely had time to register the explosion before he was yanked from his seat, pulled by the metal bracelet on his wrist. He curled up on the ground and reached out with his mind as dust and smoke filled the air, making it tricky to see anything. Erik was nearby, unhurt and keeping track of him through the bracelet.

There were others in the room who were hurt, Charles could feel their pain, and he slowly started to get up. He stayed low as a dozen human minds entered the restaurant. They were armed with guns and wearing masks, part of a mutant resistance group, and they were here to kill Erik. All of that he gathered in a matter of moments and then the fighting started.

Charles didn't dare stand as bullets and mutant powers clashed throughout the room. There was almost no order to it and since basically no one could see properly he was sure to be hit if he tried getting up. He reached out for Erik telepathically, and was thankful his boyfriend was unharmed. He was doing fairly well against the humans, since most had at least some metal on them (not that Charles was surprised by that in the slightest), but Charles could feel Erik's growing concern for him.

He sat up a little and opened his mouth to call out, to reassure Erik he wasn't hurt, when out of nowhere there was a gag in his mouth. He gave a muffled cry, but there were two humans holding his arms while the third tied the gag behind his head. He tried to pull free, but they didn't let him go. Not that he expected them too. "Forgive me, we don't want to hurt one of our kind, but it's necessary." One of them, the one who tied the gag, whispered in his ear.

He was dragged to his feet and felt something press into his lower back. A glimpse into the holder's mind said it was a gun. Then there was a needle stuck into one side of his neck and he gave a soft whimper while another of the rebels pressed a sharp glass knife to the other side of his throat. He froze in place, knowing full well that fighting was a terrible idea.

"Magneto!" The rebel with the knife shouted over the commotion. Immediately the gunfire stopped. The smoke cleared quickly (a mutant outside blew it away) as Erik turned to face them. Charles realized that almost all of the other mutants had disappeared from the room though the restaurant host was still hovering near the front door, with a gun aimed at him.

Erik stiffened up when he saw Charles and let out a legitimate growl. He took a step forward, only to stop when Charles flinched as the glass knife was pressed hard enough to draw a thin line of blood.

"Don't try it. There's no metal anywhere on my body and you couldn't kill me before I sliced his throat. And even if you did you wouldn't have time to kill him too before he injects that poison." The man holding the knife warned. Charles wondered briefly why the third with the gun hadn't been mentioned, then realized Erik probably couldn't see him. An extra backup, just in case. They had planned this carefully, specifically with Erik's mutation in mind.

Erik took a step back and held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "Alright." Erik conceded and his eyes meet Charles. "Are you hurt?" He asked and Charles shook his head slightly, since the gag made it impossible to talk. "Good." Erik said, and he even offered Charles a flash of a smile, before returning his stoic attention to the rebels. "What do you want?"

"What we've always wanted. You and your kind, gone. Surely you can afford to give up control of just one city when you've got the rest of the world." The knife wielder informed him.

"And what, exactly, do you think would happen if I did?" Erik asked. The human hesitated, and Charles caught that he didn't quite understand what Erik meant, but Erik continued before anyone could speak. "If I and all the other mutants living in London were to leave, what would you do? The population would go down drastically. It's been years since there were any humans in any emergency services. You'd have no government system in place. And there is every possibility that Apocalypse and the Black King will simply wipe this city off the map rather than waste time taking you out individually. Or worse, they'd take control of it themselves. I, and the current co-existence we have, is the least of all evils in this situation." Erik informed them.

The human with the knife sputtered and Charles felt a little sympathy for him. Erik had completely and utterly killed his argument before it had even really begun. "I don't…" The man started, and fumbled.

"Tell me, since I took control of this territory over ten years ago, have you ever gone hungry? Ever not received care when you needed it for any reason other than your own ego? Ever been afraid, late at night, that some thief would come and hurt your family?" Erik continued, not giving the man a chance to speak.

The knife wielder's mind was whirling, but as Erik had suggested the man hadn't experienced any of those things. He was struggling to get wind in his sails again and keep his anger towards the mutants strong. Charles had to admire Erik a little bit for how easily he had diffused the man's argument. Erik watched him think with a calm expression on his face. It was a careful mask, because Charles could feel his growing concern about the situation escalating. About Charles being hurt.

Charles saw him first. A human with another glass knife, creeping up behind Erik. He had it raised, ready and already moving to strike. *Behind you!* Charles sent desperately, almost on instinct, to his boyfriend. Erik twisted, dodging the knife and taking the man wielding it down easily enough. Charles let out a soft breath of relief.

Erik kept his back turned to them as he scanned the room for threats, but Charles caught his projected thought. "Charles? Is that you?"

*Yes, love, and I'm so sorry, Erik, for not telling you. I swear I will explain everything as soon as this situation is taken care of. You can hate me then but please, give me a chance to explain first.* Charles answered, pleaded.

Erik was understandably angry and felt betrayed, but it was wrestling with the warm love he still felt. Charles almost sent his own love to the metal bender, but he didn't want to influence Erik like that. Slowly Erik straightened up and turned back around to face them. His eyes were cold, but there was still a hint of concern in his expression. "Can you take out the humans?" Erik finally asked. It felt detached and lacked any of Erik's usually playfulness or casualness when talking to him. Charles didn't like it one bit.

*I can try.* He agreed. He turned his focus to the men around him. All three were distracted, focused on Erik, and it was simple enough to get into their minds and plant a strong suggestion. One they couldn't ignore. It was trickier without being able to speak out loud but his order to *Sleep.* took.

Even so there was a few seconds before the humans were affected. Almost in slow motion they started to sink to the ground as a group. Charles let out a soft breath, glad this was going to be settled relatively peacefully, when a single gunshot ran out. The whole room jumped and even though he knew he'd been shot it took a moment for the pain to set in. His knees had buckled instantly and he dropped with a cry as the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life spread rapidly through his body.

Then Erik was at his side with a desperate, pleading "Charles." He groaned as the metal bender shifted his body and laid him on his back.

"Hurts." He whimpered and Erik tightened his grip.

"I need a teleporter!" Erik practically shouted and the other mutants nearby went into a flurry of movement. Charles only noticed distinctly, as the pain made it hard to focus on anything but clinging to Erik. "Stay with me, liebling." Erik insisted gently and Charles nodded.

Slowly, as Erik steadily grew more and more impatient, Charles became aware that he couldn't feel his legs. "Erik, I can't…" He mumbled breathlessly and had to take a moment to catch his breath. "I can't feel my legs. Erik, I can't feel my legs." He repeated, and fear began to set in quickly. He desperately tried to move his legs, his toes, to feel or do anything, but he couldn't.

"Stay strong for me, Charles, I'm going to get you help." Erik promised, but despite his calm reassuring tone Charles could feel the fear radiating from him too. The metal bender shifted his grip and picked Charles up. Charles couldn't stop the scream that was ripped involuntarily from his throat at the movement. Erik flinched and held him close. "I'm sorry." He whispered as he started moving.

Charles felt, more than heard or saw, the teleporter arrive and then they were whisked away. They landed in a hospital and Charles nearly whimpered because his shields were crumbling and already he could feel everyone in the building. The patients and their pain, their desperation, their depression, their anger. Their family's concern, their grief, their heartache. The nurses and doctors exhaustion and their regrets.

He barely noticed as Erik set him down on a bed, though the movement sent more pain rocketing through his body. "He needs something for the pain." One of the nurses said and Charles panicked.

*NO!* He wasn't sure if he projected it telepathically or said out loud, but he knew at least Erik had certainly heard him. "Don't let them. Please, Erik, no pain killers. Please." He pleaded desperately.

"Charles." Erik faltered, his mind rapidly trying to figure out why Charles was demanding no pain killers. Thankfully a nurse filled him in before Charles had to.

"He's a telepath. If we give him a painkiller all his mental shields will go away." The nurse informed him. Charles assumed he must have projected at least something then, that they heard, because otherwise he had no clue how they knew he was a telepath.

"And he'll feel everyone in the building." Erik interpreted. Charles cried out again as another jolt of agony ran through his body when the bed rattled. He was crying, he could feel the tears on his cheeks, but he couldn't stop them. Everything hurt. "Hey, you, go to the Westchester Mansion, get Mystique and bring her here with my helmet. Now!" Erik ordered suddenly.

Charles assumed it was directed at the teleporter because there was a distant poof, followed by one less mind pushing on his. Though one mind being gone didn't really make a difference anymore. His range was well past the walls of the hospital now; he was feeling the mutants and humans on the streets outside and in the nearby buildings. Probably a whole city block, maybe further, but he didn't want to look closely enough to find out. He clutched his head and silently (or maybe out loud, he really couldn't tell anymore) pleaded for it all to just stop.

"Give him the shot." Erik ordered, his voice distant. Charles made a noise, an attempt at an objection, but he couldn't say anything coherent. They gave him the shot and it felt like only seconds before it kicked in. His whole body went tingly and then numb as his mental walls shattered. He screamed again at the rush of mind pushing against his. He could feel all of London, at least. Probably further. Somewhere, in the deepest part of himself that had always remained untouched by anyone else, he realized he was projecting his pain. The hospital staff in the room had crumpled unconscious almost instantly, as had most of the hospital's other occupants. The people on the streets were clutching their heads and one driver had even crashed his car.

It was a cacophony of overwhelming pain and fearful, confused thoughts drumming in his brain, interrupted by the teleporter returning with Raven. The teleporter fainted immediately and Raven dropped to her knees holding her head. And then, suddenly, there was absolute silence. The change left him slightly dazed and Charles slowly brushed the helmet on his head with trembling fingers. Erik's helmet. The metal bender stood at his side and was panting heavily, but looked otherwise alright. He brushed Charles's cheek lightly with his fingers, just under the front of the helmet, and the telepath could only savor the touch for only a moment before Charles felt his eyes roll back in his head and he blacked out.