This is pre-ending of the movie done my way. Shaw doesn't die the way he was supposed to and he has an even greater purpose in Erik's life that he would never have foreseen. Charles has been paralyzed from the waist down and left on the beach. Erik is not aware of what's happened to Charles, but together they were able to stop Shaw's plans. Charles regrets not kissing Erik on the night they met in the water.

Erik's eyes snapped open once he rose from the nightmare…

It was Shaw again, and he was young, it was never supposed to happen but Erik was powerless and Shaw had found the strongest reaction he could get from a young Erik Lensherr.

His hands were all over Erik, there was nothing he could do to stop him except call upon his ability…

Everything from the metal bed frame to the tables were crashing to the ground. Shaw still poisoned him, even when he was old enough to defend himself, but all of that became pointless because he couldn't do it once Charles held Shaw down with his brilliant mind in the shattered mirror room.

It wasn't Charles' fault since he had blacked out before Erik could push the coin in. Erik blamed himself because the child within him remembered those hands… Shaw's hands.

Erik's metallic grey eyes reflected the shimmer off the mirror, with a wave of his hand everything was placed back to its proper position before anyone would begin to question the banging sound of the bed crashing back down. Erik grit his teeth as he controlled his mind to righted the bed frame, it was twisted up his arm and he gradually released it. The only thing that helped him get through the horrid nightmares was Charles… serenity…

But he hadn't seen him for many months because of their ideological differences.

Peace could never be an option, not when there were men like Shaw in the world…

But Charles seemed to offset the idea with his peaceful ways and charming face… those amazing blue eyes that would make a god envious…

Erik let out a pained groan, he missed him deeply. He bit down on his lower lip to fight off the sensation that made him stiffen. His hand never traveled beneath the blanket, only Charles would ever make that go away… but it would always come back. He hissed when he thought of Charles… All those times he could've just leaned in and met those deep scarlet lips with his own.

"Fuck…" He inhaled sharply. The distance from Charles only heightened his longing… and need.

"Everything okay?" Raven asked as she held up the extra keycard from the neighboring room.

"Y…yes." Erik stammered, to his own surprise.

"Just thinking out loud again Mystique." He answered, he knew she preferred her new name so he justified in using it. She walked over and lied down next to him and held him against her chest.

Erik would never have let her, but once she knew he was in love with Charles she understood his pain.

He stiffened against her as the memories of Charles' smile that rewarded him with one of his own, which he hadn't for months… not since Charles left.

"We wanted the same thing, him and I." Erik admitted, "He was too blind to see it."

Raven ran her hand through Erik's disheveled hair.

"It's okay, would you like me to find him?" She dared to go there, "Just to check on him." She finished.

Erik sat up and straightened his hair to its slick back perfection.

"I will… this time." He answered her. Raven's eyes widened in surprise, it must be pretty bad now that he wants to find out by himself.

"Inform no one of this; leave no paper trail for anyone to follow us out of this hotel." He ordered.

"Yes…" She answered. She knew Erik would eventually succumb to the nightmares that she couldn't save him from, but it was about time that he finally saw his friend.

Charles' POV

Charles' turned his wheelchair around the corner and it banged against the opposite wall.

He screamed

It was frustrating him that he took walking for granted, the wheelchair seemed so obtrusive and it tore a hole through his life… he couldn't even touch himself anymore…

Not that he really did it in the first place, but he regretted never starting.

Because of Erik Lensherr, the tormented man he accidentally fell in love with. There was no other mind that could compare to the twisted, contorted, and irreparable mind of his. Not to mention all the horrible pain he'd gone through as a child, Charles felt it and what it could do to tear a man's soul from the inside out…

You've only reached the tip of the iceberg… Erik had told him.

In seconds Moria appeared by his side and was offering him help. Charles' knuckles went white as he clasped the armrests of his chair. He sucked in a sob as Erik's face came into view. That portrait, the only one he didn't break was on the wall he'd bumped into.

"Are you alright Charles?" She asked.

"Yes… just stress at work, that's all." He lied, though he peeked into her mind to sense if she believed him…

She did, everyone did.

He let go of the bars and rolled past the wall he loved and feared every single day, he made it a whole week without tearing up finally. Charles sucked in a breath as he made his way over to the desk and organized his student files, he had corrections on students' essays that were due next week. He eyed the Arbor Mist in his cabinet. He never thought he was an alcoholic, but he knew he could always hold his liquor well, unlike Erik…

Erik…

He let out another suppressed sob. His hands planted themselves firmly against the half-graded papers. There was no way he could grade these, not while tears made the red corrections bleed through at least three papers beneath it. It his anger he bit down on the pen's cap as he wrote A's over the blotted B's and C's.

It made him feel better…

Nothing could change but to have Erik in his life again. He would drain the bottle before the grading time would end. Charles reached for it and clasped it like a child in his hands. It was the closest he could get to numbing it away. Once in a while he would do this, but Moria caught on so he silently locked the door to the upstairs office. He had an elevator installed… of course.

His grip tightened on the bottle and he tore off the cork and tipped it completely upside down.

Erik POV

Erik's eyes widened once he found out where Charles was.

"what are you doing in the hospital?" He asked himself. He snatched up his brown leather jacket and slammed the door shut and took the nearest cab to the smallest hospital he could find, that's where Charles had been placed for the least amount of publicity.

Erik ran down the hall, rushing past all the personnel that shouted after him. He silenced them with slams against the wall by their metal passes and medical equipment.

"Charles!" He shouted as he ran into the private room.

He was alone…

Erik tore the sheet from the younger man's body as his eyes trailed up the bare legs that were pale. He was completely pale for the matter. Erik stiffened as he leaned his hand into Charles' cheek and felt the heat of his cheeks burn. Erik placed another hand on the other side of his face and then ran it down his hip and pulled him from the bed and sat him in his lap and cradled him. Not only comforting Charles in the process, but himself as well. Erik felt a slight difference in Charles' weight, he seemed smaller for some reason.

Then Erik saw it…

His eyes widened once they fell upon the wheelchair,

"No…no no no no no…" He pulled Charles closer and pressed him against his chest. Erik's eyes slammed shut as he realized where the bullet had gone.

He'd left him alone…

Erik cried out as tears ran down his usually impassive face. Charles felt limp in his arms, yet he caught the scent of alcohol on Charles' breath.

Erik pressed his face into Charles' neck and inhaled his scent of cologne and his natural scent that reminded him of cinnamon.

Then he felt the pressure of Charles' mind invading his own.

Erik grit his teeth as Charles' mind dug deeper into the parts unknown to Erik himself.

He needed this…

Erik's hands ran up the exposed portion of Charles' back and he held him closer.

Erik hissed and then gasped once Charles's mind settled into his, the telepath probed deeper into the chasm of his mind than he's anticipated and it caused Erik to shudder.

P… peace… within the rage… is serenity…

Charles mind spoke familiar words to Erik.

Erik's other hand clenched roughly through Charles' hair.

"M…my friend…" Charles stammered. Erik's eyes opened and he met Charles' stare.

Impeccable and the most amazing shade of blue eyes met his. Why had he ever left him? Humans meant nothing to the man he held in his arms. The backing of his hospital gown fell open and Erik knew he couldn't feel it.

"I'm so sorry." Erik cried into Charles' now tear stained front. The metal manipulator looked up again, listening carefully to what Charles was projecting into his mind.

I'm sorry… our differences… they are important to me… you know that…

"What's the point Charles?" Erik snapped and Charles could feel the heat of it through the mental link.

Charles stiffened slightly in his arms once he realized how close Erik was.

"I'm tired of waiting for the world to evolve with us, accept us, why can't you…" Erik's anger faded away as Charles nuzzled against Erik's chest.

He could fix this!

But he had to face the man responsible for his nightmares in order to fix Charles…