Real sleep had eluded him, as it had for the past few days already. He caught naps, but they didn't do much. He was tired, he was torn between surrendering body and mind, and staying awake to help their guest. Charles knew he was of no use if he had a breakdown and he finally slept five hours, but he didn't feel refreshed.

When the computer search came up with the results, Charles had something inside him freeze as the information made it into his mind.

Cameron Creek. He had existed in this world. Operative word being 'had'. The boy had died ten years ago when a car had gone out of control, hitting a car that had been occupied by both parents, Cameron and his baby sister. All four had died.

Xavier shut down the computer screen, the empty hole in his stomach growing. There was no Rift in his reality.

There was no natural way to create a portal back to the parallel Erik's world.

And he had no idea if Hank could figure out how to punch an opening between fabrics that, until a few days ago, no one had known about. It had been a theoretical concept now brought to life. It needed to be studied. Tests needed to be run. They needed time.

Time that Erik didn't have.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The next shifting happened only five hours later and it knocked Erik out within fifteen minutes. Charles had nearly been unable to watch the other man scream in agony, his whole body blurring so badly he had been afraid this would be the last time.

But Erik was still with them.

- "NO!"

The echoes of the shot still reverberated in his mind. Blood blossomed. He felt more than heard the second shot as the bullet lashed toward him.

It was swatted away like a bothersome fly.

As were the next four.

Metal bent under the command of a powerful mind, flowing toward the attacker with an unrivalled speed.

There was a scream, then a gurgle, then nothing.

Unheeding of the broken man with the gun, Erik turned and knelt next to the hunched over form of Charles Xavier.

"Charles," he whispered, voice shakier than he would have wanted it to be.

His fingers touched blood. Memories flared and he shoved them violently away.

"Charles!"

Blue eyes, liquid with pain, met his. Charles was breathing hard, barely suppressing a moan. Erik tried to pry away the fingers clenched around the injured arm.

"Let me see," he said, voice cool and level while his mind screamed.

Something was wrong. It shouldn't be so hard for Charles to control the pain. He had been shot in the back and held on with such stamina…

The telepath's mind was suddenly flowing over his own and Erik stumbled back, shocked and overwhelmed.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Charles whimpered. "Can't… so hard…"

And then he saw the second injury. The knife wound. It was shallow, almost negligible, but already inflamed and red and unnatural.

::Caught me:: Charles sent, so desperately trying to control his gift. ::Laced… poison…::

And Erik understood.—-

Only when Erik was unconscious did Hank enter and inject several doses of painkillers and vitamins. He looked through the Plexiglas screen and met Xavier's eyes.

"He can't take much more of this, Professor."

- It had been the worst night ever and Erik felt raw, his mind close to shutting down, but it was the only thing that had kept the telepath from drowning in his own brain. The poison had shattered all walls, had torn down everything, and Erik had been there to bear the brunt of the tidal waves.

Charles was resting now, face pale, dark circles under his eyes, but he was gaining more control. –-

- "I'm sorry, my friend."

"Don't be. It was beyond your control." Erik placed a kiss against one temple, as if trying to soothe the lingering headache and take away the nightmarish memories.

"I tried…" Charles whispered. "But nothing… nothing worked any more… I was so gone…"

Erik held him, let him work through the shame and the self-recrimination, aware that right now whatever he wanted to say wasn't getting through.

Tears streamed down the pale face.—-

"I know, Hank." Xavier rubbed a hand over his tired face. "I know."

And they still had no idea how to send him home.

"I'm trying to find a way to stabilize his molecular structure," McCoy went on. "But I'm loathe to use him as a guinea pig."

"We might not have another choice."

The blue-furred mutant sighed softly.

Flashes of Erik's memories raced across Charles' mind and he let them, unwilling to fight them. He lived a life through the eyes of Erik Lensherr, saw memories that were similar to the ones he had seen in his Erik's mind, and he let the softer emotions concerning another Charles wash over him like a warm rain. He was a voyeur into a stranger's life, but he refused to look away.

Maybe it was all that he could do for this man – remember his life.

Xavier forcefully pushed those thoughts away. He wouldn't give up, nor would he let Hank give up.

"I'll talk to him, Hank."

About hopefully prolonging his life until they had a way to solve this situation.

The tenderness of one memory had him smile and renew his vow to find a way. He let the warmth drive him on, fall over him as if it was his own memory, and he cast one last look at their guest. Then he left the room.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Gray eyes regarded him, unreadable, and while Charles might have been able to read his mind, he didn't try to. Erik finally closed his eyes, looking defeated. Vulnerable. It was nothing Xavier had ever associated with the other man.

"If McCoy thinks it helps," he murmured.

"It's all we can do right now."

It got him a weak smile. "Until what?"

Charles folded his hands in his lap. "Until either your world finds a way to open the portal or Hank has a way to permanently stabilize your body."

"You're planning on keeping me, Charles?" There was a light, teasing not that had Xavier smile.

"We have to entertain the possibility that you might never be able to get home, Erik."

"Two of me in one reality? Might get crowded. And who is to say I won't just turn into my alternate twin?"

Charles shook his head. "You are different."

"I can't stay here, Charles." Erik ran a shaky hand through his messy hair. "I can't."

"We'll find a way. But for now you need to survive until then."

It got Charles a shrug. "Tell McCoy I'm ready to play guinea pig."

He felt flashes of old, terrifying memories and Charles wheeled forward, meeting the tired eyes.

"We're not like that, Erik."

"Caught that, hm?"

"It was hard not to."

Erik smiled humorlessly. "You sound just like the man I know in my reality." He raised his eyes to look through the Plexiglas screen where Hank had appeared. "Do it," he told the scientist.

Hank had worked through the night to finish what he hoped would give Lensherr a few hours of stability at a time or at least lessen the impact the shifting had. Connecting his patient to the machine he tried not to take too much notice of the bad condition the human body was in. Erik had closed his eyes as if he needed to concentrate on just breathing.

"It's metal, Hank," Erik whispered shakily.

"I've yet to find a way to create a machine completely out of non-metallic parts," he replied.

The chuckle alerted him to the fact that he had sounded slightly more aggressive and defensive than he had planned.

"I know. You'd be a frigging genius if you could."

He bristled, eyes flashing, then had to smile as he finally caught up to the teasing. He was a genius.

"So this works?" Erik wanted to know.

"I hope it will."

The machine hummed to life.

Nothing else happened.

Erik raised his brows.

"Unless the shift happens," McCoy explained, "it will do nothing."

"Huh. So this is where we hope for a shift?"

Hank looked a little embarrassed. "Yes and no. I'd hate for you to go through another shift if this doesn't help. But if one happens it would tell me if what I designed actually works."

"It'll help," was the quiet reply.

Hank met the weary gray eyes, then dredged up a smile. "I'm flattered by your confidence in me."

Erik chuckled. "Grasping straws."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Charles knew he was spending a lot of time with their guest, but it was like a drug he couldn't shake. He was looking at Erik Lensherr and he saw what Magneto had once been, and what somewhere inside the man he had once called a friend still existed. He knew he had made a mistake and looking at their guest it was like rubbing it in.

"You're tearing yourself apart, Charles."

The quiet words startled him and he looked up from the game of chess they were playing. So far half a day had passed and no new shifts had occurred. Erik didn't look that much stronger, but he was also not growing weaker.

"You did the best you could do. Under the circumstances."

"You can't ever know that."

"Neither can you." Erik smiled darkly. "I know myself. And your parallel self. You're very much like that Charles. He is prone to beating himself up over some things, too. You two are good at projecting the mature, grown-up and controlled professor, but underneath there's the guilt and remorse."

Charles saw the laughter in the other man's eyes, heard it in his voice. He smiled at that.

"Maybe."

"Definitely." Erik moved his pawn and leaned back, waiting for Xavier's next move.

It would have been too much to ask for the first twenty-four hours to be a good sign and develop hope.

Twenty-four hours was all Erik was given before the shift hit him. It was the most violent Charles had ever witnessed and he was in the middle of it. Erik's screams were cut off when his mind finally succumbed to the strain and shut down, his body crashing violently. Hank's machine was in ruins. Charles was pulling himself up with the help of his tipped-over chair, reaching for the other mutant.

His fingers wrapped around one wrist and the staccato pulse hammered against his skin.

- Charles lay underneath him, naked, looking sated and calm. His eyes were half-lidded, his lips displaying a warm smile.

"Got it out of your system?" Erik asked with a lazy expression. He leaned down and kissed him. "You are insatiable."

"Look who's talking."

"I'm just feeding a need."

Charles laughed. "Right. So selfless. You do know that I'm a telepath."

Erik nuzzled his neck. "Never slipped my mind."

Xavier sighed softly, burying one hand in the tousled head. –-

- The thunderstorm had stopped them from continuing their little roadtrip and they had sought shelter in a small motel that had seen better days. The room was clean, though. A violent clap of thunder rattled the windows and Charles pulled the curtains closed. Rain beat hard against the panes and the parking lot looked flooded.

"So much for that idea," Erik said, coming out of the bathroom.

He was toweling his hair and had changed into dry clothes. Charles admired the long, lean lines in the light gray track suit. For some reason Erik preferred wearing black but changed into the gray suit for work-outs.

"If the weather lets up we can continue tomorrow."

"If. Forecast looks like the Flood is coming."

"I think we can entertain ourselves."

The smirk was wide and almost dirty. "You have a one-track mind, Professor."

"And you only hear what you want to hear, my friend."

"Oh, I can very well read between the lines." –-

Charles smiled dimly at the happiness he felt at the memories, at how easy and familiar it all was. He pulled himself closer, willing the other mind to calm down, to heal.

The door was flung open and Hank came in, followed by Alex and Sean. All three looked almost frantic.

"I'm fine," Charles told them.

- "You're not."

Deft fingers palpated his ribs.

"Erik, I'm perfectly fine."

A wince betrayed the words and Erik scowled.

"You had to go and talk to the kid alone!"

"He was scared."

Of Erik. Of too many people. Of being cornered. So Charles had ventured out alone and he had paid for it with bruises and bumps and a shallow cut on his hand.

"And now he's off running again. What were you thinking, Charles?"

Anger coursed through him. Anger at his lover for being so dense and so naïve to believe he could handle this alone.

"I'm sorry, Erik."

He exhaled softly. "You once told me I'm not alone. You aren't either. We're a team."

Charles gave him a rueful smile. "I seem to have forgotten."

Gray eyes narrowed. "Never again."

"No. Never again." –-

Hank helped Xavier back into the chair while Alex and Sean cleared away the remnants of the machine.

Erik hadn't moved at all.

"I think this needs treatment, Professor."

Hank's fingers had blood on them and only now became Charles aware of the fact that something had grazed his neck.

"Erik first," he decided.

He could wait. Erik couldn't. The machine had only helped for such a brief time and the last episode had been such fiercely violent, he feared the next might kill him.

Reaching out with his mind he ignored the teasing memories, all interesting and fascinating, and he brushed over the stressed-out mind.

::Erik, please hold on, my friend::

tbc...