SUMMARY: Magneto/Xavier. Adult material, sexual content. When Magneto asks for Xavier's help, he gets it. But what will he do when he finds that Xavier wants something from him as well?

NOTE FROM JANE: Oh happy day! Mercutio finally got around to sending me her unfinished Magneto/Xavier, I finally got around to finishing it and grafting it into continuity, and we both are finally reasonably satisfied with the results. Of course, it still reads like a PWP that someone glued a plot onto, but hey, PWP is all right, isn't it? :-)

Continuity note: This story diverges from continuity somewhere between X-Men Unlimited #1 and #2, the major change thus far being that Magneto has not mysteriously transformed into a complete lunatic in this time period. 

BOOM!

With a thunderous noise, the front door of the school -- Professor  Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youth -- fell inside. A heartbeat later, an  electromagnetic pulse went through the building, killing all electronic  equipment inside.

As a calling card, it lacked something.

However, it got the attention of the occupants of the building, who responded in a manner benefiting their training -- if not quite befitting the name of their alma mater. The youngest graduate of this exclusive prep school, here visiting the ill sister of her ex-boyfriend, vanished through the wall of her bedroom, racing toward the disturbance, heedless of all obstacles in her way.

In the study hall, otherwise known as the Danger Room, Professor Xavier hit the Emergency Stop button by instinct, although the EMP pulse had already made the action unnecessary. "We are under attack."

Each of the room's occupants responded. "On it!" "Let's get them!" "Yes, sir!" some cried. Others let their actions speak for them.

Cyclops, Bishop, Beast, Storm and Wolverine -- all of whom were a bit old to be thinking about preparing for college -- flung themselves out of the Danger Room and toward the enemy.

Kitty Pryde popped her head through the wall, "It's Magneto!"

"No, kid," Wolverine snarled. "It's lunch."

"Wait!" Kitty said, as they stampeded after their attacker, "He's... sitting in the parlor," she finished, to no one at all.

****

Two hours, some broken furniture and two emergency vehicles later, Charles Xavier and Magneto sat alone in Xavier's office -- the parlor being completely unusable until the large slashes in the furniture could be repaired and the monsoon-damaged carpet replaced.

"Does everything *have* to be an attack?" Xavier asked, mildly curious about his guest's manner of announcing himself.

"Charles, Charles," Magneto said patronizingly. "How can you say something so naive? You train your 'X-Men' to respond in the same manner. How many times has your team simply strolled up and knocked on my door? Never."

"Magnus..." Xavier said, in a strained tone of voice, "Be reasonable. If you would recall, every time the X-Men have 'paid you a visit', as you might say, you were threatening to take over the world."

"No," Magneto corrected, "in each case, I was attempting to save the world."

Xavier shook his head. "I know that you believe that to be true..."

Magneto spread his hands. "Da stehen Sie."

The professor did not need a translation. Even if he had not understood the German phrase, Magnus' attitude made the statement perfectly clear. He felt there was nothing more to say on the issue. His intentions were pure and that was all that needed to be said. That other people, including Xavier, might feel differently would make no difference to him.

"I caused no permanent damage, Charles. I have even reconstructed your door. Is that not proof enough that this was no attack?" Magneto left unsaid that the X-Men had done a great deal of damage on their own. That wasn't his problem.

"Next time, Magnus, simply knock. Or call ahead."

Magneto snorted. "I think not. You would meet me with every weapon in your arsenal, and do your best to destroy me before I had any chance to speak."

Magnus meant that, too, Xavier knew. But then, the man was always honest. No, not even that -- honesty was too pale a word for his integrity. Magnus meant everything he said, and did not bother disguising his purposes, no matter how much it might benefit him to lie. It said much about the man that he had ever been able been able to carry out any of his schemes as Magneto.

"What then do you wish to discuss with me, Magnus?"

"A threat to all mutant-kind."

Charles steepled his hands. "Please go on. I find this extremely... interesting. You have never asked my help before." It had happened the other way around on more than one occasion, but Magnus had never actually turned to *him* for aid.

"I have not needed your help."

"And yet, you are here, asking for it." Xavier kept his tone gentle. He needed to know what could terrify his old friend and enemy into asking for help -- Magnus generally believed that he could take on anything and anyone. And would. "Why is that?"

"Because--" Magneto's voice stayed firm, "you have experience with the workings of the government. And I have need of such experience."

Xavier raised his eyebrows. "Go on, please."

Magnus paced. "I think we both understand that anti-mutant hysteria is chiefly based on an unnatural fear of the different?"

"Yes, partially. It is also rooted in the inferiority some feel, given that we are homo superior, and they are homo sapiens. And," Charles' voice became dry, "in an understandable fear that they will be killed out-of-hand by mutants in our battles to save the world."

"Na ja. A cure has been discovered for this problem."

"Really? A cure for mutants? I believe that most of the mutant population would resist being 'cured'. My telepathic powers are not a disease, but a part of me."

"You misunderstand, Charles. They have discovered a way to give anyone mutant powers."

Puzzled, Xavier said, "That's not new... Genetics aside, I've seen research on various -- and frequently deadly -- means to produce superpowers. All involve great risk, and have a high mortality rate. In many cases, the subjects who survive do not receive any powers at all. The very hazardousness of the process limits its use. It isn't a threat."

"A new process exists. It does not kill the adult recipient, and it is approximately 90 percent effective."

"So then I presume that it is possible that all people might be made over into mutants." Xavier considered the thought. "That would certainly remove the anti-mutant bias, although the potential destruction to the planet could be extreme. With so many people possessing powers..." he trailed off into thought. "It might be better, however, as everyone would be on about the same level -- instead of a few people possessing pistols against an army of people who have only clubs, everyone would possess pistols. It would be desirable for no one to possess firearms, but the escalation is inevitable. It could make the system self-policing." He looked up at Magneto. "I would think that you'd be for this, Magnus. If everyone were a mutant, you would have achieved your dream."

"I would like to be alive to see my dream come to pass. If this new process is used, I may be dead."

"Why would you be dead?"

"Their plan -- the plan of these cowardly schemers -- is to capture all existing mutants and harvest their brain chemicals to create new,  weaker 'mutants'. Lab-produced and controllable. Each of us would provide enough of these chemicals to create several more mutants. I am told that I will be highly sought after, as my greater powers will enable them to make many, many 'mutants' from me. Instead of being   masters of magnetism, however, they will be only practitioners. Where I control metal, they will sense metal." Deep cynicism shadowed his eyes. "They would be crippled imitations of me. The people behind this would have all of humanity become crippled mutants -- 'safe' holders of the powers we possess and which they crave, restrained behind laboratory-controlled limitations to keep any from achieving power or greatness."

"Yes, I can see why that would appeal to people. If such an idea were placed in the media, many of our lives would be in danger. Many of us can be taken off-guard, and it would hamper our mission greatly if we must simultaneously deal with a superhuman threat and a cannibalistic population who believes that killing us will make them like us. It would give them a rallying point which would be difficult for us to stand against. After all, they would simply be trying to become like us -- our refusal to surrender to their plan would be seen as selfish and  uncooperative rather than a matter of survival. I can hear the argument now -- 'If you are for mutantkind, then you will sacrifice yourself so that all may be mutantkind.'"

Magneto nodded. "You understand." *At least, I sincerely hope you do. This cannot be a matter for your X-Men, either, Charles; this must be _your_ battle, for it cannot be fought by force.*

"You're quite right. This battle must be fought from the inside -- from within the government, and within the structures that discovered and now wish to spread the knowledge of this process. It is, indeed, something I'll have to begin myself, with my contacts."

Abruptly he realized from the expression on the face under the helmet that Magnus had never actually *spoken* the last two sentences he'd said. That was unnerving-- Magnus's shields were normally incredibly strong. It was, in fact, so unnerving that Charles shook his head, as if to clear it. "I apologize. I didn't intend to read your mind, but it's difficult to shield from your thoughts when you're concentrating so intently on them."

Magnus inclined his head, and Charles sensed as shields which had begun to take on a translucency in places solidified and became opaque.  "So noted. I have strengthened my shields against you."

"Noted and appreciated."

"Appreciated?" Magneto asked. "If you have such an advantage against an enemy, why would you wish it blocked away?"

Xavier smiled thinly. "Because, perhaps, I do not desire to use it?"

The red-clad man shook his head at the alien thought. "In the long run, Charles, I fear those ethics of yours will be your undoing."

Charles shrugged slightly. "'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' If I were to achieve my dream by mind-controlling everyone around me into agreeing with me, wouldn't I have made myself into a monster who deserves to be  defeated? I have the ethical high ground as long as I'm fighting to protect the innocent from those who would exploit or destroy them. As soon as I become the exploiter myself, I stoop to the level of my enemies, and then I've lost. You can't do good if you've sold your soul to do so."

"And you believe that I have done this?"

"I never said that."

"No. But I do not need to be a telepath to know it is what you think."

Charles sighed. "We were allies, Magnus. You recognized how bankrupt your old ways of violence were, and you vowed to try it my way. What happened? When I left Earth you were my friend, and when I returned you promptly attacked me--"

"I believed you had betrayed me." Magneto's voice was ice cold and hard. "I am still not convinced you did not."

"Then you're a fool, Magnus, and I thought you smarter than that. I never betrayed you. Why did *you* betray my dream?"

"Because I *am* a fool, Charles, and so are you. I should never have embraced your dream in the first place, and you should never have  trusted me with it. I am not you, cannot be you, and when I tried to be you... my students, *our* students, died." His fist clenched. "You ask what happened, Charles? I learned how useless your dream is, that is what happened. It's a pretty fantasy, but a deadly one, and it will kill you all. I hope only that I will have the strength not to weep at your graves, when you inevitably fall."

"You won't. Any more than I had the strength not to weep for you, when I thought you'd died on Asteroid M."

Magnus inclined his head. "Then I will weep. I have done that before. It changes nothing."

He started to turn to leave. Charles caught his hand. "Wait."

"For what? I have delivered my warning; you have promised to deal with the situation. How you choose to do so is of no concern to me; it's outside my expertise."

"So you simply trust me to take care of the problem for you? That's unlike you, Magnus."

"I would not have turned to you if I thought I could deal with this matter on my own, or if I did not think you were quite capable of handling the situation yourself."

"So, you admit that my methods *do* work. Perhaps not on every problem, perhaps they're not methods you would be comfortable using, but  they're effective. Isn't that what you're saying?"

He smiled at the consternation on Magnus' face. "Some few problems, perhaps, but--"

"Because, for my part, I'm willing to admit that there are times when force is necessary. Why do you think I put together my X-Men, why I trained them as I did? You yourself pointed out that they're an effective, if hair-trigger, fighting force."

"I've never doubted the fighting abilities of the X-Men, only their usefulness in the long run at protecting mutantkind."

"But, you just admitted that there are ways in which mutantkind need protection where it's best to work *with* humanity rather than against it. Tell me, Magnus, how would you have dealt with this threat if you *had* taken over the world?"

"I'm no longer trying to take over the world. The bloodshed involved would be too terrible. I merely wish to create a sanctuary where our people can be safe--"

"Which they would not be, even in your proposed sanctuary, if half the population of humankind was trying to kill them to harvest their brain chemicals to become superhuman."

"*Yes*, Charles, that is why I *came* to you."

"So--" Xavier smiled broadly, and sprung the trap-- "even if you *achieved* your goals, you would still need me. Or someone like me,  playing the role I play. You can't do it alone."

"I--"

"You just admitted it, Magnus. Surrender gracefully."

"What are you playing at?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Xavier rolled out from behind his desk, still facing Magneto down.

"No, it clearly isn't, or I would not be *asking* you."

"I want you back."

Magnus looked rather taken aback by the statement. "Charles, is there some aspect to our friendship that I was unaware of?"

Abruptly Xavier realized how the statement could be misconstrued, and laughed. "As an ally," he said, and then it occurred to him to wonder why Magnus, who was notorious for his lack of a sense of humor, *had* come up with that particular misconception... and if perhaps there  was something to it.

Magneto's apparent death on Asteroid M had devastated Charles. He hadn't understood why Magnus had turned on him, how he'd become so  quickly and thoroughly convinced that Charles had betrayed him. And  before they had a chance to reconcile, to talk and try to understand what had gone so wrong in their relationship, Magnus had bodily thrown him and the X-Men off the asteroid, so that they would survive when the thing blew up. It had then blown up, and the grief and loss Charles had felt, combined with everything else he'd recently suffered-- being used as a template for Skrulls to steal his lover the Shi'ar Empress, and bend her to their will; losing his son to the Shadow King; the Shadow   King breaking his spine-- all had made him numb, driven, focused entirely on his work because to think of anything else was to risk utter destruction.

And then Magnus had saved his life, along with the lives of Cyclops and Storm, and shortly thereafter reappeared on the world scene, chastising the idiots who called themselves his Acolytes and bringing them under firm control but otherwise making a general nuisance of himself. Thus far he'd blown up a plant that made the anti-mutant Sentinels, but allowed the people to evacuate; hijacked transports of food to New York City and airlifted them to Genosha to feed to the mutates; interceded at the lynching of two teenage mutants in Texas, killing most of the mob trying to kill the boys; and in general done a number of violent, terribly politically incorrect things that unfortunately, Charles Xavier could understand and sympathize with. The distance between their philosophies seemed shorter than it had ever been in the old days of Magneto's madness. Thus, Charles's current obsessive need to make Magnus understand that, to bring him back to the fold as an ally, to resume their friendship.

And friendship was all it was. Right?

"I consider you a doomed fool. You say I have lost my soul. I do not see much room for compromise there."

His voice sounded cold and angry, but his shields were slipping again, and what shone from beneath them spoke of something else-- hunger, a desperate desire to make their connection again, a deep conviction that it wouldn't be possible and Charles would reject him, as Magda had rejected him, as Rogue had rejected him...

It was as if his subconscious was sabotaging him, opening up his shields just enough, broadcasting just enough, that Charles could see what he was feeling. At least, Charles had to assume it was subconscious sabotage. Magneto was capable of shielding himself better than *that.*

And it hadn't escaped his attention that Magnus was comparing him to his wife and to a woman who he'd wanted for a lover.

It also hadn't escaped his attention that his own lover had been making excuses not to see him for a year now-- a horrendously traumatic year where he could seriously have used Lilandra's support, and gotten none. In fact, if he were to be brutally honest with himself, Lilandra had been about as loving and supportive over the past year as a Hacky Sack smacking into his temple-- an experience that Jubilee had unfortunately gifted him with. At least Magnus was *supposed* to be an enemy.

"There's always room for compromise."

He reached out and took Magnus' hand. The other man stared at him as if he'd suddenly developed a second mutation and sprouted an extra  head, but didn't attempt to move away.

Then he peeled off Magnus' glove.

"Charles?" The other man's voice was ragged, a mixture of shock and... something else... in his voice. "*What* are you doing?"

Xavier stroked the now bare hand gently, with knowing fingers. "What does it look like?"

"If I didn't know better, I would swear you're attempting to seduce me."

Charles looked up at him. "Yes, I am, actually. Is it working?"

"Of course not! I'm not in the slightest attracted to men."

"Then why are you still letting me hold your hand?"

Magneto pulled his hand away rapidly. "I am *not* attracted to you, Charles."

"Really?"

"Whatever made you think I was?"

"Would it prejudice my case if I said that you were broadcasting again?"

"I was not." He took a step backward, then another.

"And I suppose you're going to tell me you're not in the slightest afraid of me?"

"Afraid? Of *you?*" Magneto stopped backing away and looked down at him. "Charles, you are a crippled man in a wheelchair. I am the  Master of Magnetism. Now that I've strengthened my mental shields again, there is nothing you could do to me before I could simply pick up  your wheelchair and throw it into the wall."

"Agreed," Xavier said, having successfully advanced while Magnus was giving his speech. He caught the bare hand again. "No reason for you to be afraid at all."

Magnus stared at him bemusedly. "I do not believe you are doing this."

"But I am, my friend." Xavier raised Magneto's hand to his lips. "I am."

Magneto started to pull away. "You've clearly gone mad."

Xavier still clasped his hand, having rather more upper body strength than Magneto did. There were some advantages to having to do  everything in life with your upper body. Not many, but some.

Charles pulled that hand to his cheek. "Please, Magnus. Don't go."

Magnus shook his head. "You *have* gone utterly mad, have you? Do you expect me to believe that after all these years you suddenly *now*  desire... more from me than friendship?"

"No, I don't expect you to believe that."

"Fine, then I can leave." He tried to pull away again, but didn't use his powers. By now he had to have figured out that unless he used them, he wasn't getting away. Since he wasn't using them, Charles assumed he wasn't as interested in getting away as he was pretending.

"I expect you to believe that I've always wanted something more from you than friendship."

"Excuse me?"

"Well... I never knew how to bring it up. I was dating Gabrielle when we were friends in Israel; I may have a number of faults, but two-timing my girlfriend so I can try to seduce my best friend isn't one of them. Then you went insane--"

"I wasn't insane, Charles. Merely obsessed with my cause."

"As I said, then you went insane, and by the time you stopped being insane, I was involved with Lilandra. So it isn't exactly as if I've had plenty of opportunities in the past. And I thought you'd laugh at me."

"And I am so very accepting of this now?"

"Well, you're standing there letting me do this--" he kissed the palm of the other man's hand, and ran his lips lightly up the long fingers. "I'd call that acceptance."

"I am merely stupefied by your effrontery."

"Of course you are." He resumed kissing Magnus' hand, taking two of the fingers in his mouth and sucking lightly on them. Magnus' breathing became distinctly ragged.

"And what of Lilandra, then? She is no longer a consideration?"

Charles stopped and looked up. "No."

He didn't want to think about the implications of what he'd just said, so he used Magneto's hand as a lever to spring his powerful upper body up, clutching Magneto about the waist, and hurling them both backward onto the carpeted floor. The wheelchair swayed but did not fall over.

Xavier laid on Magneto's chest, intense, mesmerizing eyes staring into Magneto's. "Do you deny your own feelings?"

"I feel nothing--"

Lying on his chest this way, Xavier could hear Magnus' heartbeat, considerably faster than it ought to be. "Your heart's beating faster, and your breathing is ragged. Does that mean you feel nothing?"

"It means you're lying on my chest, Charles."

Xavier slid off slightly, letting his useless legs fall off Magnus' body at an angle, and propping himself up with one arm while he ran the other over Magnus' body. The costume was remarkably light and soft, as chain mail went. "I'm not lying on your chest now."

"No. You're not." His breathing was still conspicuously ragged.

The junction between Magnus' legs was protected by plate armor, metal with no give to it. Charles ran his hand over the other man's hip, feeling for a catch, and found one-- apparently Magnus didn't like the humiliating possibilities inherent in a costume he could *only* remove with his powers. In a world of power neutralizers, this seemed wise. Of course, it did mean that other people could undo the catch and slip their hand in awkwardly, encountering cotton underwear and the bare flesh of stomach and upper thighs. But then, the Master of Magnetism was surely capable of holding a metal catch shut if he really wanted to.

Unable to turn his hand to stroke properly, Xavier ran the back of his hand from Magnus' hip down and in, grazing over a hardness that belied Magnus' words.

"So, then?" Xavier asked. "Is this nothing?"

"It's merely sexual desire. It will cease."

"You said a moment ago you don't desire me."

Magnus shifted. "Well... what did you expect me to say?"

"I expected you to tell the truth." He looked down at the helmeted face. Why Magnus' helmet hadn't fallen off when Charles had knocked  them both to the floor, Charles didn't know. Probably it was magnetized or something. It was terribly inconvenient when you wanted to kiss  someone and they had a helmet on, but he didn't have any free hands to remove it with. "You're normally honest even when it hurts you. Probably because you're not a very good liar."

"I don't-- I'm not sure-- Charles, I have no idea how much of this is because of you and how much is due to my having been with no one since Lee, two years ago."

"So you're saying that absolutely anyone could seduce you? If, I don't know, the Blob had done this--"

"No! That's positively disgusting."

"I see. Then that does imply that this--" he pressed the back of his hand harder against the cotton briefs and what lay within them, stroking-- "has *something* to do with me."

"Well. Yes." Magneto squirmed, not so uncomfortably, and sighed. "I admit, Charles, I do feel a certain sort of attraction to you. But I had assumed that it was the attraction of one great mind to another--"

"There's that also. I feel that the sexual experience is enhanced when both partners are capable of exercising their intellects as well as their bodies as sexual organs."

Xavier pushed himself up a bit to lie across Magnus' chest again, so he could turn his hand at a better angle. Once he could cup his hand  around Magnus' erection, he did so, stroking it. The thin material of the underwear under the metal groin protector gave Magneto little protection against sensation. Xavier outlined the shape of Magnus'   penis, paying particular attention to the sensitive head.

Magnus caught his breath. The groin protector Charles had partially dislodged melted away, leaving Charles free reign. Charles promptly took merciless advantage of this by sliding his hand in under the leg band of the underwear, touching what lay beneath directly. A stifled moan escaped Magnus. "Could you please not do that when I'm trying to argue with you?"

"Take off your helmet," Xavier said. "Let me see your face."

The helmet removed itself, sliding out from under Magneto's head. A shock of white hair was revealed.

"You look vulnerable like that," Xavier commented, working the underwear off carefully, and beginning to masturbate Magnus in earnest. "I see why you wear that thing. No one would fear you as much as you wish if you didn't-- you're entirely too handsome without it."

"Am I?" He sounded as if he didn't actually quite believe it. This surprised Xavier.

"Surely your lovers have told you how attractive you are before."

"They were women." His tone of voice made it clear that women's taste was an unfathomable, inexplicable thing.

"I'm not."

"I have noticed that, yes." Magnus closed his eyes, then groaned again. "You can't be doing this. *I* can't be doing this. Your students could walk in at any time."

"They won't." Charles shifted himself so he could trace Magnus' ear with one finger while he continued his ministrations with the other hand. "I've told my X-Men I'm in the midst of important negotiations with you and not to be disturbed short of the imminent destruction of the universe. And we just saved the universe last week, so it shouldn't be due again for some time." He kissed his friend's vulnerable neck, and wondered how the heck he was going to get Magnus' shirt off past this metal collar. It didn't seem to have a catch.

Magnus groaned again. As Charles lifted his head, plotting an attack on those sensual lips, Magnus's face contorted. "No, this is foolishness. I don't want this. I can't."

"But you do, Magnus," Xavier said in a low voice. "Your body's made its feelings on the subject quite clear, and you're having trouble keeping your mind from broadcasting how very much you want this."

"*You* obviously can't tell the difference between mere physical desire and rational choice," Magnus retorted.

Xavier laughed. "There's never anything rational about desire. But, if you're so sure you don't want this--" he stopped stroking and let his hand release-- "I could stop."

"That won't be necessary," Magnus said hastily. He reached around with both hands, pulling Xavier firmly against him. "You don't need to stop now."

"But you want me to. And I would never force myself upon an unwilling partner."

"I didn't say I was *unwilling*, I said I wasn't being rational."

"And of course it's so very important that you remain rational."

Charles saw something shift in Magnus' mind then, mostly hidden behind his mindshields, and he rolled over, holding Xavier firmly beneath him with the pressure of his body. The rest of his costume melted off, pooling on the floor. "All right, Charles. Since you insist. Let us throw rationality to the wind, and explore the possibilities of an... alliance." He bent his head against Xavier's face and neck, kissing him fiercely.

Xavier had the feeling he had just lost control of this particular encounter.

"An... alliance?" he gasped. He hadn't quite meant to gasp. He had meant to remain firmly in control of himself. This was *his* seduction and it was hardly fair of Magnus to turn it around like this, and certainly very unfair of the other man to be so very talented with his mouth. "Is... that what we're discussing?"

"You're the one who wished to seduce me to your cause," Magnus replied. He captured Xavier's mouth and thrust his tongue inside,  conquering the other man. He pulled his head up and looked down, panting. "Perhaps it should be the other way about. Lilandra has left you and you claim you've always wanted me. Perhaps I should be the one seducing *you* to *my* cause, no?"

Xavier's eyes were wild, almost possessed. "I... wasn't trying... to seduce you to the cause."

"No? Don't lie to me, Charles." He drew back, holding Charles away from his body.

"No. I was just trying to seduce *you*. No causes necessary."

"And I am to believe that? The last time I asked for your friendship you demanded that I take your place with the X-Men and the New Mutants. It nearly destroyed me. Am I to think you offer yourself with no strings attached at all?"

"If you'd flown off, we'd never have had a real dialogue. We'd never have a chance to try to make a compromise. I don't want to make you become me but I don't want you to leave, Magnus. I wanted to try to make things work between us."

"And so you saw my vulnerability, and used it. You tried to seduce me to hold me to you."

"No! I mean... I wanted you to stay, to *talk* to you, but... it wasn't that Machiavellian, I swear it..."

He had almost gotten from concern that Magnus thought he was being manipulated to genuine fear, considering what had happened the last time Magnus had thought Charles was manipulating him, when Magnus buried his head in the crook of Charles' neck and began sucking on his earlobe. "You should know better than to try to manipulate me, Charles," Magnus said in between assaults on Charles' ear and neck. "It simply doesn't work. I won't listen to your foolish notions any better after we've had sex than I would have before you offered."

"What if I proposed my foolish notions during?" Charles asked, panting. "Would you listen then?"

"You talk too much," Magnus said, and took possession of his mouth again.

Charles thought of pointing out that a telepath didn't actually need his mouth to talk, and decided he didn't want to do anything that might antagonize Magnus and make him stop.

Magnus leaned back and unbuttoned Xavier's shirt, his hands sweeping over the other man's chest protectively. Xavier sighed at the feeling of Magnus's hands. It would be nice to be able to simply enjoy this, but he had the feeling Magnus was after a hidden agenda of some sort.

"So this is some elaborate attempt to prove that I can't manipulate you? Or that it wouldn't do any good if I did? Or do you truly think that if you drive me mad with pleasure I'll toss my ethical concerns aside and join you?"

"You misunderstand, Charles. This is not about attempting to persuade you to join me. And if I'd wanted to prove you can't manipulate me, I should have left quite some time ago." A nipple was tweaked, and Xavier tightened. Sexual pleasure had become a thing of the past for him when the Shadow King had snapped his spine. His paralyzed body did not prohibit sexual stimulation, but it barred him from active participation with any partner less imaginative than a gymnast. And he did not wish to be perceived as a freak or as a charity case. He wanted the desire to be mutual.

Lilandra no longer desired him, it was clear. But it was equally clear that Magnus did.

Moist lips followed fingertips, as Magnus sucked on the now erect nipple. It was almost like having sex -- which said too much about the pitiful state of Charles' love life of late. "Then what is this about?" Xavier asked breathlessly.

"Sex, Charles. This is about sex."

*Oh, well, yes. Go with the obvious answer.* Xavier felt bemused. "You have no hidden agendas? No secret plots? You've actually agreed to this simply because you want to go to bed with me?"

"Why, Charles? Are you reconsidering?" His eyes bored into Charles'. "If you're suddenly going to ask me to leave, I rather wish you would not have started this in the first place."

"If I did ask you to leave, would you?"

"I can't believe you even need to ask that."

No, he supposed that was a stupid question. Magnus was many things, but not a rapist. "I'm sorry. I'm just-- rather amazed at all this. I never imagined before today that you held this sort of interest in me."

"Nor I you. But now that we are aware of our matching interests, I am certain that we can settle this affair to our mutual pleasure." Magnus' lips moved down Xavier's body, not neglecting any of the sensitive skin, as his hands undid Charles' pants and slid them down. Charles shivered as air caressed the portions of his lower body that he could feel. "How far down your body are you capable of perceiving sensation?"

Xavier motioned with his hand. "I have limited feeling in my pelvic region. Below there, I'm entirely numb."

"Useful under the present circumstances."

He wondered what Magnus meant by that, then ceased wondering as Magnus' mouth moved lower on his body, until his penis had been encased within it. He stiffened with the sudden shock of the touch, then forced himself to relax as much as he could.

"I presume," Magnus said, pulling back, "that that is one of the areas in which you are capable of perceiving sensation?"

"Yes," Charles managed to say.

"Good." Magnus bent back down over him, resuming his ministrations. This time he did not pause for words. His tongue lapped at the smooth skin, lubricating the stiffening shaft and teasing it into a greater state of hardness.

Helpless to move his body in response, Xavier reached down to the silver head positioned above his groin, hands weaving into that thick hair, as if savoring a forbidden pleasure. He groaned low in his chest as Magnus took him completely within his mouth. "Yes..."

As the encouragement hissed from his lips, the rhythm increased to match his need. He wanted this, wanted it desperately. Magnus  possessed him with a dark fury that Xavier welcomed, struggled against and desired. Though he'd known for years that his feelings for his friend and enemy were rather more intense than he commonly admitted to, he had never expected to end up actually fulfilling those fantasies.

Charles was out-of-control, never in control, with little way to stop the other man even if he wished. Physically, he had no way to halt this encounter -- he could not even thrust into Magnus' mouth to deepen the experience. He was at the other man's mercy. That should terrify him. As a paralyzed man, he knew far, far too much about being helpless. He should *not* be turned on by the thought of being at Magnus' mercy, especially after all the times when it had been real, all the times when the fate of the world or at the least the lives of his students had been at stake.

But this wasn't one of those times. He could call the X-Men if he really wanted to stop this, or attack Magnus with his mind. He wasn't really helpless; it was just an illusion. An incredibly arousing illusion. And it was good. Incredibly good. Too good to last.

He felt the orgasm building in him, tight flashes of burning sensation indicating that he could hold out little longer.

"Magnus!" he exclaimed sharply as he came, clenching his hands into the other man's hair, keeping that contact where it was most needed, keeping Magnus from moving away.

He heard rather than saw Magneto's chuckle when the other man licked the tip of his penis lovingly, laving away the last bits of semen. "I had no intention of disappointing you, Charles. You needn't have been so rough. I have no wish to lose my hair as you have."

"That's not how I lost my hair," Xavier felt compelled to point out, even as his body fed him back messages about the incredible pleasure he had just received. He felt languorous and sated, and did not object as Magnus turned him over onto his stomach.

Hands began probing him, assessing the musculature of his legs, hips and buttocks. Charles felt very little of what Magneto was doing, only random touches when the hands explored far enough up for him to feel them. "I see you have not neglected regular physical therapy for your body."

"Of course not."

"Good." He hesitated. "Is this acceptable to you, Charles?"

"Dammit, Magnus," Charles said, reduced to one of his rare uses of profanity. "*Do* you want me to beg? Is that what this is about after all? Some sort of revenge for making you admit to wanting me?" Silence met this question. "Please, Magnus--"

He was abruptly repositioned so that he was kneeling, his lower body held by Magneto's power, while his chest pressed against the ground. Magnus growled at him, even as he granted Charles' request. "Do not beg, Charles. It is demeaning."

"Then what seems to be the problem?"

"I am not a necrophiliac."

Charles grasped the significance of that comment at once. His body and the physical issues that came along with his paralysis were painfully familiar to him by now, even if he largely existed in the life of the mind. He understood why Magnus might have problems having sex with a body that could not feel or respond to him. It would be like having sex with an object. "If it bothers you, I can return the favor you just granted me."

Magnus hesitated. "It would seem rather more... voluntary on your part, yes. But if it would make you uncomfortable..."

Charles laughed, turning himself around somewhat awkwardly. "Magnus, what do you think I was planning to do when I started this?"

"As I was planning to give you my message and then leave, I couldn't say." Charles reached up and pulled the other man down next to him. "I  still don't quite believe we're doing this on the carpet in your study," Magnus remarked. "I feel like some sort of debauched teenager."

"If we cannot act like debauched teenagers with each other, who *can* we act that way with?" Charles pointed out, and kissed him. This time he intended to stay in control of the situation... more or less. Magnus was not the sort to lie back and passively let himself be kissed, apparently; one of his hands went behind Charles' head, cupping it and stroking the smooth skin there with his fingers, and he returned the kiss passionately. Charles slid his hands over Magnus' back, bringing one forward to glide down his side and slip between their bodies, reaching for his erect penis. Magnus moaned, pulling his head back from the kiss with a gasp, and Charles took the opportunity to change their position, pushing Magnus over onto his back where Charles could more easily reach him.

He slid down his friend's body, using one hand to support and move himself and the other to caress Magnus' groin while he kissed and licked his way down Magnus' naked torso. It was a little awkward; more than once he had to stop what he was doing with his hand and use it to help the other one in scooting himself down or getting into position. The unintentional effect seemed to be to tease Magnus. After the fourth time he'd done it, a groan escaped the other man, and the hand still stroking his head tightened slightly, pushing his head lower. "Charles, please..."

Immediately Charles felt sorry for teasing him-- Magnus' pride was a terrible thing when wounded, and it hadn't been Charles' intention to make him beg. He sent a wordless apology telepathically, a reassurance that it had been unintentional and he would not do it again. He then followed up on the telepathic reassurance with a physical one, positioning himself so that his head could lay comfortably between Magnus' legs, planting a kiss on the hard organ there, licking the head of it gently, and then drawing it into his mouth.

Magnus gasped. "Ah... Charles... I don't... I..."

*It's all right*, Charles sent, carefully staying out of the other man's thoughts. *Don't worry about anything right now. Just enjoy.* He wondered how long it had been since Magnus had allowed himself to "just enjoy" anything. Probably longer than it had been for Charles  himself, he was sure.

Charles had never actually done this before, but he'd been inside the minds of lovers doing it for him, many times; he was not surprised by the experience in any way. The thought occurred to him to wonder where *Magnus*, not a telepath, had gotten his skill at fellatio, but he quickly decided he really didn't want to know. At the moment, all he was interested in was the taste and feel of the organ he was suckling, and the entirely gratifying reactions of the body it was attached to. Magnus' mental shields slipped, his mind involuntarily opening to Charles, broadcasting the pleasure he felt.

And then anything he was broadcasting that resembled thought disintegrated in a kaleidoscope whirl of pleasure, and he cried out as he came. Charles continued to suck and lick him as aftershocks trembled through his body, until finally Magnus pushed Charles' head away. "Enough," he said hoarsely.

Charles lifted his head, and Magnus sat up a bit to reach him, taking hold and pulling him up over Magnus' body until the two of their heads were level again, and Charles was lying next to his friend with Magnus' arm around him. "I wonder what the fate of the world would have been, if we'd done this years ago," he said.

"We would have killed each other out of rage and betrayal, of course," Magnus said, his voice still slightly hoarse. "I cannot help but think the reason we did not do this before was the danger to our hearts. To lose a friend to ideology is bad enough."

"You think we're doomed to betray each other over ideals, and kill one another, then?" Charles ran a hand through Magnus' hair. "I'd really rather not if it's all the same to you."

"Ah, but that will happen anyway. We are doomed to being strong-minded individuals who will not surrender their ideological positions. No, to lose a friend to heartbreak..." his voice trailed off, and his hand ran soothingly across Xavier's arm, "...I trust that I need not go into the pain of losing one's best friend and lover?"

"And yet," Charles said quietly. "We've done this now. Surely this still changes our worlds."

"This changes nothing. It cannot be allowed to change anything."

Charles shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. "I think you're wrong. It changes everything." He turned his head. "Are you going to tell me that after what we've just shared, you would *want* to fight me? Or that I would want to fight you? Wouldn't you rather try to find some sort of compromise?"

Magnus pulled away from him slightly and levered himself up on one arm, looking at Charles with a wry expression. "Certainly. But how much room is there for compromise when one of us is right and the other is wrong?"

Charles was quite aware that Magnus meant 'when I am right and you are wrong'. It would have been quite out-of-character for Magneto to admit to being wrong, especially when they were discussing his judgment. He found it one of the more charming -- and infuriating -- things about the man. Shaking his head, he said, "If things were going to stay as they were, then we were fools to do this, because it will only hurt worse when we have to turn on each other again. But I don't want things to stay as they were. I can't stop hoping for the best from humanity, and you can't stop fearing the worst. But doesn't that sound like a balance, of sorts? If we could find a way to work together that compromised neither of our beliefs, think of the good we could do our people. Quite aside from the good we could do each other."

Magnus shook his head, and stood, pulling his underwear on. "You're still a hopeless idealist, Charles. We are opposite extremes. How can we possibly work together?"

"I don't know. We'd have to talk, and try to figure that one out." Charles looked up at Magneto. "Are you willing to try? Or are you going to play the coward about your personal life again, and run away from what you want because you're so sure you cannot have it that you aren't even going to try?"

For a moment, Magneto's face darkened with rage, and Charles wondered if he'd pushed the point too hard. Of course, pushing the point -- exaggerating it really -- was about the only way to force Magnus to see just what the point was. A realistic point would never do. Before Xavier could become truly worried, the other man relaxed visibly, his fists unclenching. A sardonic look came over his face. "If it might mean I can turn *you* from your misguided ways and make you understand what must be done before it is too late... then yes, I am willing to try."

He reached down, lifting Charles up. "Let me help you get dressed."

"I only need help with the pants." He could do it himself, but it was very annoying -- the effort required to lift his lower body so that he could pull the pants over his hips was a tremendous one-- so he welcomed Magnus' help. It was only fair, considering that Magnus had been the person to take the pants off.

Magnus put him back in his chair with pants on and his shirt in his lap. He stepped back, summoning his own costume to him, while Charles put his shirt on. Then, with both of them dressed, he took Charles' head in his hands, bent down, and kissed him.

He drew back, leaving Charles-- and, apparently, himself-- somewhat out of breath. "I don't want to fight you either," he said softly. "If there is a way to find a compromise... by all means, let us try."

The large picture window, hidden behind curtains, unlatched itself, and he levitated up to it and flew out. The breeze flapped the curtains behind him.

Charles stared out the window and watched him go, a smile on his lips. They both had a much greater incentive to try to make a compromise work, now. Because this did change everything.

---