Summary: Charles' grip on Shaw's mind slipped, allowing Shaw to live and as a treat to himself he took Charles from the beach. Now Erik and the team have to save him and stop Shaw before he starts World war III AU!Ending

Pairings: Erik/Charles and Shaw/Charles

Warnings: Psychological and physical torture, Noncon and slight Stockholm syndrome.

Disclaimer: Marvel's characters.

Chapter I: Charles

It was those eyes; they were the most gorgeous blue, a dark cerulean to a blinding crystal hue. Those eyes were what captivated the helpless girls at bars that seemed to fall for his 'groovy' pickup lines and intoxicating charm. He was smooth and charming enough to mask his genius to any who might find it off-putting but when the time came he set it all aside and let his true talent for human genetics shine through. He was a professor after all.

Human genetics were his specialty, focusing on the different mutations that lead to where the human race is today and as to where it might lead in the future. However Charles Xavier already knew where farther human mutation would lead; after all, he was a product of it. His mutation hid behind the mask of charm and those amazing blue eyes, deep within his brain. It allowed him to reach out with his mind to touch other minds; it allowed him access to thoughts, feelings, memories and even deeper still to the control center of the brain without someone even knowing he was there.

Charles Xavier had the potential to be a very dangerous young man. If he took control of the right people and pulled the right strings he could do anything he wanted. But he didn't, he wouldn't. Charles was not the type to control human minds for his own play; he had morals and rules to limit the amount of power he used on others.

Above all Charles wanted peaceful coexistence, he believed in a world where his kind, mutants, could live alongside the humans and they could work together as one.

Hoping he could kick-start this new world of acceptance he began working with the CIA and a group of mutant recruits to stop a madman name Sebastian Shaw from starting a third World War.

He never thought it would end this way.

Charles slowly opened his eyes when he heard the large metal door swing open. A painfully strong bright light shined through the open door, blinding him. He narrowed his eyes to shield his vision from the harsh light as he looked up through the bars that he was leaning against to see a man emerge from the open door.

Still partially blinded, he tried to make out the man's face but for a long time he only saw a black silhouette standing before him. When the man's face finally came into focus it was sharp and angular with cold eyes.

Shaw.

The man crouched down in front of him, blue-steel colored eyes watching the telepath in cold, calculating appraisal as he reached through the bars of the cell. Charles quickly backed away from the hand but the nimble fingers took a firm hold on his chin, keeping him from moving farther away. He clenched his jaw, looking in disgust up at the man who merely smiled at him return.

"So you're the telepath they've been able to keep from me, the one that was helping Erik to try to kill me." The man's voice was as cold as his gaze, though there was a very faint hint of twisted amazement in his tone.

"What did you do to Erik?" Charles made sure to keep his worry out of his voice; he wanted to show that he wasn't afraid of Shaw like the others had been. The thought of what could have happened to Erik was eating at him though, especially since he hadn't heard from his friend since… Since he had blacked out when Erik had the silver coin half way through this madman's brain.

Damn that helmet, He thought as his eyes trailed up to the ugly, horrible creation that rested on the man's head, keeping him from seeing just what happened to Erik and his team for himself.

Shaw must have seen his distress over the helmet because his cold smile grew into a dark grin, "Designed especially to protect my thoughts from you. Feel proud, you were the reason it was created."

Charles reached out with his telepathy to see if he could feel the presence of any familiar minds but the only ones he found were that of the teleporter, wind bender and Angel. Both men had their own mental walls, probably something Miss Frost had helped them build, but Angel's mind was left completely open to him.

Charles could easily rip right though the men's walls and take control of all three but that wasn't what he cared about right now. The children and Erik were the ones he needed to find but he couldn't feel any of them.

"This room was also made for you, Tele-proof. Ha ha. I close that door," Shaw turned Charles' face to look directly at the door that the offensive light shined through then back to himself before he continued, "you'll be cut off from every mind standing on the other side of these walls."

"Where is my team, Shaw? Where is Erik?"

"You're awfully interested in the dead, aren't you?"

Charles' blood ran cold, freezing in his veins and stopping his ever-beating heart, even if it was only for a mere second. "What?" He grabbed the bars and rose to his knees so he was at eye level with the man in front of him.

Shaw let him go and just smirked at his inquiry causing the shadow from the helmet on his face to darken ominously.

The telepath quickly raised two fingers to his temple and reached out to the closest mind so he could check if what Shaw said was real. He was almost through the wind bender's mental wall when the door swung shut and his connection was severed and both men were left in semi darkness.

"No!" Charles growled, "You bastard, why did you do that? What did you really do with my team?"

Shaw grinned at the distressed man in his captivity. "Your eyes are quite remarkable."

Charles backed away from that bars, he could feel tears building at the corners of his eyes from the fear of losing his sister, of losing Erik and losing the rest of the team. The last thing he want was this man to see if they began to fall. "Where are they..?" His voice came out as nothing more than a plea for information, it made him angry to sound weak when he needed to be at his strongest but he couldn't dwell on it now.

Shaw chuckled at the sound of Charles' weak plea, "Where are who?" He asked as he slowly stood and adjusted his white suit before he opened the door of the cell.

Charles stood immediately, his eyes narrowed, muscles taunt as if ready to attack if backed into a corner, "Raven, Erik, Moira, Alex, Sean and Hank! Where are they?"

Shaw laughed as he walked closer to Charles, leaving the door wide open as if taunting the telepath. "I'm sure they drown in those wondrous eyes of yours."

Charles didn't have time to think of some kind of witty come back or even roll his eyes at the bad line before Shaw reached out and grabbed a handful of his silky brown curls and pull him closer so that he could look down into those amazing blue pools.

The telepath grunted as his hair was pulled and he was forced up against the madman's chest, "Where are they?" This time when spoke his voice was steadier, more demanding with no fear wavering in it at all. He narrowed his gaze again, glaring up at the man in defiance.

Not getting the reaction he wanted, Shaw pulled Charles' hair, forcing his head back to expose the slender column of the telepath's neck. Charles felt too exposed like this. Shaw already had the upper hand, he had strength the telepath couldn't match and with that helmet Charles was not much of a threat. More fear began to rise in his gut but he tried his hardest push it back down.

"Get off of me!" He growled, his hands on the man's chest trying to push him away. Shaw only smiled and pulled Charles' head back farther, receiving a gasp from the younger man.

Shaw leaned close to the exposed milky-white skin, close enough to feel the soft heat radiating off the telepath. Charles' stomach twisted into knots when he felt the man's breath hot against his skin.

Shaw took in a deep breath, breathing in the telepath's sent. He smelt of sweet pomegranate masked by rich cologne that only served to make the older man want to devour Charles on the spot. Luckily for the telepath Shaw had other plans, so instead he gave the soft curls a sharp yank backward, making Charles gasp and his' back and knees to bend until his stance was too weak to remain standing. Watching the telepath drop to his knees Shaw bathed in the pained expression and distressed noises Charles was trying so hard to suppress.

One of the telepath's hands was now on Shaw's lower abdomen, still trying to push him away, while the other was pulling at Shaw's wrist trying to get his hand out of his hair. After a long moment of watching the telepath struggle Shaw seemed to realize he wasn't being very friendly and let go of him.

Unlike Emma, Charles was weak, years of studying and having a telepathic mutation saw to that. Shaw hoped that would change once they got him to cooperate, to be on their side and trained as a fighter, a killer even. "They're dead, Charles. Forget about them, I have a better proposition for you anyway." Shaw smiled at the sharp glare he received from the man that was still on his knees before him.

"I will never accept it." Charles growled, his glare turning almost deadly just to look at.

"Ah but my boy you've not even heard what it is!" Shaw laughed but there was no amusement, it was just hollow laughter and the smile on his face didn't quite reach his eyes.

Charles stood and took a step back, putting space between him and Shaw. He had to get around Shaw and to the large metal door, if he could open that door he could access the teleporter's thoughts and make him take him away from where ever this place was. Freedom was two doors away and one was foolishly left open.

"What are you thinking Charlie?"

Charles could feel a sickening cold chill run up his spine, spreading goose bumps over his entire body when Shaw said his childhood nickname. No one had called him that name since his father, his real one, not the horrible man that replaced him when he died. He shivered, closing his eyes a brief moment to recover fully.

It was then he acted, using his own moment of weakness to distract Shaw and catch him off guard.

Charles made it through the open cell door with no problems. Shaw hadn't been able to react fast enough to catch him. He stopped a moment before the metal door, reaching out for the handle but there was no handle.

How had he not noticed this before? How was he going to get free and find his team now? "Goddamn it!" He cursed as he pushed as hard as he could on the door, silently begging for it to open.

Shaw stood against the bars of the cell, watching in amusement. "What were you expecting to happen, Charlie-boy?" He chuckled as Charles banged his fist on the door in a futile attempt to fool one of the others outside into opening the door.

What had he been expecting? This man was smart, a lunatic but smart and rational enough to take precautions to avoid letting a captive get free.

The cold realization that he wasn't getting out of this room spread slowly throughout his entire being, making him feel physically ill. He was trapped without access to his powers, without his team, without Erik. He was just a sitting duck being kept for Shaw's twisted amusement.

What was he going to do? He had to escape.

"Come away from the door so we can continue our little chat." Charles could hear the smile in the other man's voice when he spoke. A heavy hand came to rest on the crook of his neck and he tried not to react, even as his skin began to crawl.

When Charles didn't budge Shaw's grip tightened and he began to pull him away from the metal door, "Come, we need to talk."

The telepath had a different idea; he pulled away from Shaw's grasp and turned to face him. He was trying to come up with a plan but nothing was coming to him, no brilliant escape plan formed in the back of his mind as he locked gazes with the man in front of him.

He had seen how powerful this man was when he had been inside his mind; he knew he couldn't take him down with physical strength. If only he could get inside his… his mind! Of course, the helmet!

Charles suppressed a smile as his gaze flickered up to rest on the awful thing for a brief second before staring the older man directly in the eye again. He just had to wait until Shaw made a move, went to grab him or at least closed the small distance between them.

He did just that. Shaw moved forward, reaching out to grab Charles' arm and force him back into his cell so they could talk. As he did Charles lunged forward, reaching for the helmet. His fingertips had just brushed the surface when cold fingers closed around his slender wrists.

Arms twisted painfully behind his back after a short struggle, Charles was slammed up against the metal door, his body pressed firmly between the cool surface and Shaw's warm body.

"What a bad boy you are, Charlie." Shaw grinned in amusement, tightening his hold on Charles and forcing his arms into a more painful position higher up his back. When the telepath gasped in pain Shaw continued, "I was going to offer you a position in my ranks. You were going to be my new right hand man. You were going to help me lead the mutant revolution that has started as a result of today…"

Charles closed his eyes, grimacing at the pain in his shoulders. The fear from before steadily began to simmer in the pit of his stomach as Shaw continuously used pasted tense as he spoke.

"I was going to make you great, powerful, more powerful than you've ever imagined." Shaw whispered in his ear, so close the the telepath could feel the man's dry lips brush against the shell of his ear and his hot breath on his cheek.

"It seems I have to break you a little first." A quiet sigh escaped the older man as his hand came to rest on Charles' lower back.

The telepath began to struggle again but was stopped when Shaw forced his arms higher up his back, causing the already painful burn in his shoulders to magnify. "Calm down, this won't hurt."

Charles' breathing was frantic, his heart pounding in his chest, his fear was finally taking a hold of him even though he tried his hardest not to let it. Then there was a sudden, sharp pain where Shaw's hand lay and Charles bit back a whimper. Just as quickly as it came the pain vanished. What had Shaw done?

There was a brief moment when Charles seemed to realize what the man had done to him but by the time the word came to him he was already falling. His legs crumbled uselessly beneath him and he was forced to stare up at Shaw, so much more than he already had to.

The man was grinning ear to ear as he looked down at the telepath. "I hope you don't mind, I took the energy from your lower spine. It acts as if I was to sever the spinal cord." The smiled grew as he tapped his foot against Charles' thigh.

The telepath looked down at his legs in horror and his eyes grew comically wide as his face turned a pale green when he couldn't feel the tapping.

Paralyzed...

"Don't worry; I can restore it to full function… if you're willing to cooperate."

A life time of being forced to stay in a wheelchair passed before Charles' eyes, a life time of only being half a man. His expression hardened and he shot a glare up at the man towering over him. "Never." He spat defiantly.

Shaw's grin faded as he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I see, so you're going to make this hard for me." The man reached own and grabbed a painful handful of Charles' hair and pulled it in the direction of the cell.

In any other circumstance the telepath would have been too dignified to crawl but there was no other choice unless he wanted a large patch of hair ripped from his scalp. It was hardly crawling though as Charles dragged himself across the floor to the cell. Half way there his muscles burned and shook and his arms gave out under him. Charles was certainly a man that stayed in shape to stay fit and healthy but not to be muscular.

"Up, up" Shaw chirped, continually pulling the telepath by the hair to urge him on.

Once in the cell Charles' arms gave out once again and he collapsed onto the cold floor. His muscles ached but he couldn't let himself lay there like a piece of meat, he wouldn't be giving up any time soon. Propping himself up he stared up at Shaw with pure hatred written in his blue eyes but at this point it was as if a tiny kitten was hissing at a huge, rabid dog.

Shaw smiled and turned away, "I'll be back later when you change your mind," he sang as he walked out of the cell. Again he left the door open as he made his way over to the large metal door, knocking in a light beat against the metal.

"Where's Erik?" Charles tried one last time to get an answer, a real one.

Shaw glanced back at him, "I told you already, my poor Erik and your little team are all dead."

When the door opened again Charles tried his hardest to find Angel but when he couldn't he tried to quickly break the mental defenses of the other two minds he did have access too. If he could get just one of the men then that would buy him time to get the other. He could use the wind maker to distract Shaw and the teleporter to get free of this place.

He was so very close when the door swung shut and his connection was lost.

Charles stared at his useless legs but quickly closed his eyes when he felt tears start to form. He would not appear weak, he would not break down. He was… paralyzed now, but he couldn't let that get to him, he had more pressing matters to worry about. The children and Erik were his top priority, not himself. As he thought about them and what could have really happened images of twisted bodies began forming in his mind and he choked back a sob, still not letting any tears fall.

They couldn't be dead, he would have known if they were killed, even if he was unconscious at the time of their deaths. Pushing all thoughts of bodies and death from his head he tried to focus on that one reassuring thought. He would have felt his constant connection to all of them get severed and he hadn't. Shaw had to be lying to him to get him to fold.

They had to be alive…