Work Text:
Charles and Erik have always been on opposing sides. Even when they were meant to be fighting against a common enemy they were standing on polar opposites on the solution to the problem, which was all a nice way of saying that Charles was naive enough to believe that there was good in everyone.
Erik would have thought that Charles, of all people, would know that was not true. He saw people’s desires, people’s most inner secrets; he knew what they were capable of, even if he hadn’t experienced it himself.
Well, he had been less experienced than Erik had been when they first met, but after so many years, Erik thought Charles would have come to his senses by now. He’s been through so much, and not all of it at the hands of his enemies.
‘Oh my friend,’ a voice said, ‘I am not as naive as you believe me to be.’
‘Charles?’ he thought. That voice, that tone was recognisable even if he hadn’t heard it with his own ears.
‘You are a perfect example of the things you do not believe in,’ Charles continued, ‘you have done some terrible things, but you are capable of so much good.’
‘Get out of my head Charles,’ Erik thought, but didn’t try to enforce it, ‘you should be looking for more mutant children with that machine of yours, instead of riffling through my mind.’
As his own power had progressed, so had Charles’ power, and with cerebro in the mansion, Charles’ reach was practically global. If there was something he wanted from Erik’s mind he would have found it by now, and Erik wouldn’t have even realised. Erik had nothing to hide from Charles, not anymore.