A/N - Sorry, that I was unable to update last night. I got kind of distracted! Anyways, all of your reviews are wonderful, so please keep them up! And Charles and Erik are back now, so I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: If I really owned these people, Cherik would be cannon. All characters belong to their rightful owners.

Erik tossed and turned all night, thought that wasn't anything new. On any normal night, he would have nightmare after nightmare. Nightmares were just one of the many wonderful side effects of knowing Shaw. Another restless night felt like any other in the mansion.

Erik could sense the sun shining in though his closed eyes. When he finally decided to open his eyes, he realized he wasn't in his bed at the X-Mansion. He looked around and recognized the hospital room. The memories of the day before came flooding back, and Erik realized Charles being paralyzed, was in fact not a nightmare. It was merely the truth.

Erik's gaze turned to Charles and a pang of guilt hit him. Will I ever not feel that pain? he asked himself. If I always will, should I even bother staying? Luckily, for Erik, he didn't need to answer that because the nurse walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Erik on the couch.

"Did you stay here all night?" she asked.

"Umm…no?"

"O…Okay then," she muttered. Erik could tell she didn't believe him, but she didn't push the matter either. She walked around Charles checking up on various things. Erik kept a stern eye on her, making sure she didn't do anything funny.

"We are expecting Mr. Xavier to wake-up sometime today. You are welcome to stay here and wait for him to wake, or you can go and we will contact you when he is up," the nurse explained.

"I'll stay." Erik wasn't sure if the first person Charles would want to see was him, but there was no way he was leaving him alone.

"Ok, well in that case, when he does awake, you can choose to tell him yourself about his…injury…or you could have one of our doctors break the news." Erik nodded. The nurse took a short pause and continued, "Do you know which way you would prefer?"

"No. Not yet." The nurse understood. She checked one last thing and walked out of the door.

The entire day Erik sat on the couch absorbed in his thoughts, casually glancing up every so often to see if Charles showed any signs of life. Throughout the whole day, various doctors and nurses came in to check on Charles. Few of them even acknowledged Erik's presence.

When lunch came around, no matter how much the nurses urged him to leave and get food he refused to. He hadn't left Charles yet, and he wasn't planning on doing it now.

As the day went on, the nurses began to tell Erik that Charles might not wake up 'til the next day. Erik heard the constant remarks, but never let it show. It was late in the day, well past dark, when Erik knew he would be talking face to face with his telepathic friend that night.

Erik watched Charles begin to stir from his previously unchanged position. As Charles moved, he continued to stay on his back. Is he even capable of rolling over?

Erik tensed and braced for impact. However Charles reacted when he woke up, he was ready. Or so he hoped.

xxxxx

Charles laid in bed awake, refusing to open his eyes. It was the most awake he had been during his whole time on the strange bed. He knew that the moment he opened his eyes he would have to deal with some story on where he was and why. Charles didn't remember anything at the moment, and he liked it that way.

Charles could tell he was high on Morphine. His telepathic capabilities were significantly weaker. He tried to reach out to any nearby minds, but he could only fell the presence of one. And with his grogginess, there was no way he would be able to enter the mind. Finally feeling like he was awake enough to take whatever he was in for, Charles opened his eyes.

The light flooded quickly into his eyes, and he snapped them back closed. He tried again, slowly opening his eyes bit by bit, allowing the picture to slowly puzzle together. By the time his eyes were fully open, he found himself staring up at a dull white ceiling. He tilted his head on its side and saw Erik sitting, very tensely, on a nearby couch. A few memories came back, and Charles felt for his legs.

Charles attempting a weak smile towards his friend, hoping he would return the favor. Erik didn't even move.

"Charles, if you don't want to see me anymore, I under…" but Charles cut Erik off.

"Erik, I do not remember anything. What happened, where it happened, why it happened – all of them are a mystery. I don't ever remember when…" Feeling a little less groggy, the telepathic spoke to his friend, I would like you to fill in the gaps of my memory that seem lacking.

Charles could sense that his friend was shocked by speaking to him mentally. "Please Erik," he said sympathetically. "I don't remember anything." Charles whispered, trying with all restraints to keep from crying. Please.

xxxxx

Erik sensed his friend uneasiness. He figured Charles knew something was up. Charles had probably made ideas about what was wrong with his legs. Do you know when you can't feel your legs, that you can't feel them? What does that 'feel' like?

"Yes Erik, you do notice the missing control of limbs. It is nothing more than realizing you only control half your body." Erik noticed Charles was intentionally ignoring the word feel. He made note of that, and contemplated reminding Charles to stay out of his head. Erik remembered the situation, and let the thought pass. "Please explain to me what happened," Charles reminded Erik.

Erik though about standing, but deemed it rude to brag that he still had the talent his friend had just lost. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember you…" Charles winced "…sending a coin through my mind. Not me personally, but a mind I was connected to."

"O my god Charles…I didn't realize you were…" but Erik trailed off.

"Erik, I remember that, and I forgive you. You did not know. It was the only way. Now please, remind me of what I don't remember.

"After I…killed Shaw…I carried him out to show everyone what I…er…accomplished. After a few minutes, the US and Russian ships both aimed their missiles at us. Using my power, I stopped them. You told me to drop them, and I should have listened to you, but I didn't. I turned every missile around and sent them back at the ships. You did your best and ran at me, knocking me over. That caused most of the missiles to drop, harming no one. I attempted to resend the remaining missiles at the ships. Moria did her turn in attempting to distract me. She took her gun out and began shooting at me. I reflected each of the bullets without any hesitation, only one of the bullets path came in contact with another object. You. You collapsed right in front of me. I dropped any remaining missiles and darted to your side. Blaming of different causes took place, but you managed to tell me that I did it. It was then that I knew that I could never make it without your help. We created a stretcher of sorts, and Azazel teleported us here." Erik caught Charles's glance. "Azazel, Angel, and Riptide went on their own. I could do nothing about it." Charles gave him a nod of reassurance. "That was yesterday. The doctor explained to Moria and me your situation after your surgery. The bullet severed your spine." Erik paused, "You have lost control of your legs. Paralyzed. There is little hope of you walking ever again." Erik looked at Charles to see his reaction, but seemed surprisingly calm.

"Erik, I remembered everything from yesterday. I wanted to hear your side it." Erik felt a little hurt. "…but paralyzed? That's new…"

"Charles, with me being the cause, if you never want to see me again, I under…" but Erik could tell his friend's mind was on different thoughts.

"It looks like the mansion will be getting some remodeling," Charles paused, "Groovy." Erik saw his friend squeak a small smile.

And Erik did the same.