Late January, 1977.

The girls' name was Aziza and she had a very strange ability, one which caused no end of trouble when she was brought to the manor. She was a child of just ten years but Charles had seen that she had the mind of an adult, or more specifically, she refused to allow any childish thoughts to enter her head. In her, the professor saw himself as he had been at her age. He'd been a very mature child too.

Her ability, she referred to it as a curse, was that she could, just with a glance, temporarily take traits from one person and give them to another, even herself on occasion. Until she began to associate with mutants this was limited to a persons' personality traits and she'd earned the reputation of a harbinger of bad luck among the people of the small village where she'd been raised in Africa. But now she could change people's mutant abilities and she didn't yet have the power to control it. It was something which even Charles was having difficulty in understanding. There didn't seem to be a catalyst for her ability kicking in. It didn't seem to be caused specifically by stress or rage or fear or contact, it just seemed to happen at random. Which was why their current predicament that night didn't exactly come as a surprise.

"How long will this last?" Erik asked through gritted teeth. He was sat hunched over in the living room with his fingers buried in his hair.

"A few hours, maybe more," Charles answered.

"Argh...why are you all so loud?!" the German grimaced, his knuckles whitening. "Why is this so easy for you?" he demanded when he looked up to see Charles reclining, the picture of serenity.

"You think this is easy?" Charles raised an eyebrow.

"You don't look like you're going mad!"

"Of course I don't. I'm trying to stay calm. Remember all the time I spent in your head? I'm very familiar with your abilities and the techniques you use to control them but all the same, I don't want to see what happens if I let myself lose focus," the Professor explained.

"I've been in your head too. I know how your powers work. Why can't I control this?"

"Not as easy as it looks, is it?" the telepath asked sympathetically.

"My god...you need to fix this...I can't deal with this," the German ground out, "Where's the girl? Make her put this right!"

"She can't, she doesn't know how," Logan said.

"She'll just have to learn," Erik hissed.

"It was only a matter of time, I suppose before this happened to us," Charles sighed. "For Aziza to switch people's abilities they generally have to be in the same vicinity and we do seem to spend a great deal of time together, don't we?"

"What if we sent her away? Would this stop then?"

"I doubt it," the Professor replied. "I would suggest that we have Azazel take you somewhere more isolated but with my abilities so undisciplined with you, I doubt that it'll make much of a difference. And I fear that if we do so, we may take you out of her range to put this right...when it does eventually happen."

"Will it?"

"I've no doubt about it, but unfortunately for you, my friend, I've no way of knowing just how long it will take. I suggest you attempt to remain calm, Erik."

"Huh?!" the German scoffed, "Calm?! How can I be calm when I have a thousand other voices in my head? How do you do it?"

"I've had years of practice and my mind has adapted to the strain, yours hasn't," he replied sadly. "I'm going to talk to Aziza," Charles said, standing up, "Keep an eye on him, Logan," he said quietly before he walked out of the room.

"...Will you stop...thinking...for just one minute," Erik hissed.

"Hey, I'm hardly the brainiest person in this place," Logan shrugged, "What d'you want me to do? Act like I'm brain dead?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, sure I'll just do that," the older man grumbled.

"You're still thinking."

"I'm trying not to."

"Try harder."

"You know just as well as I do, that ain't easy," Logan said, trying to stay calm.

"Then think about something else other than this damn mess I'm in!"

"Fine," the man replied smugly. Erik's demands beginning to grate on his nerves, he thought of the image of a beautiful woman he'd met and with whom he'd spent a long a sleepless night.

"Oh, very funny," Erik snapped.

"What? You look like you need to de-stress."

"And voyeurism will solve that, will it?" the German asked while Logan made a non-specific grunt in reply.

As the minutes ticked by they fell into silence which was broken only by Erik's sighs of frustration and hisses of irritation. He'd thought he'd understood just how disciplined Charles needed to be to keep his telepathy in check, but apparently he hadn't had the slightest idea. It felt as though his head was fit to burst an no hangover he'd ever experienced was as bad as this.

Erik knew that when Charles needed, or just wanted, a respite from the voices he could hear and when he himself was near, the telepath would venture deep inside the Germans' mind, with his permission of course. When he did, they'd found that hours could pass, feeling like mere minutes while they exchanged words with their minds.

Perhaps it was a technique that would help him now. He could focus on Logans' mind. Erik didn't consider it ideal, but he didn't think he even had the strength or focus to stand up to find Charles. So he began to focus solely on the thoughts coming from the older man's mind.

He saw terrible things and he saw good things. He saw too much to really make sense of and it hurt his head even more when he tried. But there was one thing that stood out amidst the anger and the pain and it shocked the German so much that it caused Logan to feel his surprise. He turned towards Erik in confusion when he felt a sharp stabbing in his head.

"Is that you in my head or am I just getting one hell of a head ache?" he asked but he got no answer.

Erik raised his head and took slow breaths as he fell back, slouching on the sofa with a face of grief and defeat. "What?" Logan asked cautiously, "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Something in your head..."

"You're gonna have to be more specific," Logan rolled his eyes.

"Erm...a woman...there was a woman...you were there, so was Charles...and...me...in a house. She...she...killed him," the German furrowed his brow is disbelief, "She killed him," he repeated. "Was that...did that really..."

"Yeah, it happened," Logan sighed, "In my future. Doesn't mean it's gonna happen this time."

"But it still could. If she..."

"No, it won't happen again."

"There's no way of knowing...if she's out there somewhere...she could still...Does Charles know about this?"

"Course he does. He saw it in my head...spoke to me about it the first week after I got here," the man said.

"He never said..."

"Guess he thought you'd do somethin' stupid," Logan shrugged.

"This woman..."

"Jean."

"Yes...she was...is...will be...stronger than Charles?"

"As Phoenix? Oh, yeah," Logan muttered.

"I don't believe it."

"Well, you saw...what she did. He warned me...before everything went wrong. He said that she had too much power to use safely, so he made sure that she wouldn't...I thought he was...I said things I shouldn't have. I should've known better. I didn't listen...and that got him killed...and her in the end...along with a whole load of other people."

"We have to stop that from happening again."

"Agreed."

"If we kill her..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. She's just a kid right now, I think the professor said you recruited her in the early 80's, she's not even..."

"I don't care," Erik shook his head, "If she poses any kind of threat to..."

"You really think he'd want you to kill her, or that he'd let you when he finds out?"

"It's for his own good."

"I'm no genius or nothin', but I'm guessin' this was why he didn't tell you...somethin' stupid, remember?" Logan remarked.

"I can't believe he kept this from everyone, from me. I said I'd make sure nothing got to him...I haven't always been successful...but how could I let that happen in your future? Why didn't I stop it?"

"We couldn't," he said, "I was there too, remember? I didn't stop her either and it was my fault in the first place. The Professor didn't see it that way, then or now...but it was. You were on opposite sides when that happened, you were more bothered about getting Jean to fight for your cause...but I think it got to you."

"What kind of...person...was I?" Erik muttered in disbelief.

"Not a good one, that's for sure," Logan said, remembering every fight that now, never happened. "But you changed...in the end...too bad it took the worst war in history to do it," he added.

"But you told us...that Charles and I had you sent back...how could he do that if he was..."

"Didn't you see that as well? He came back."

"From the dead?"

"Yeah...it's complicated," Logan said, "But it doesn't matter, because it isn't going to happen."

"How can you be so sure? This...girl...is out there and Charles will bring her here regardless of the fact that she could kill him. He'll do the same thing again and when she..."

"He knows about all this. He's known for years and he's had time to think about it all. You really think he want to die and let all that happen again?"

"...You loved her?" Erik asked suddenly, as he sifted through the thoughts he'd read from Logan.

"Yeah."

"And you killed her?"

"Yeah. She asked me to...if I'd just listened to the Professor in the first place then they wouldn't have...But it doesn't matter, it isn't going to happen."

"I don't care that you loved her, I don't care that she's a child, you know that if see her threaten him in any way, I'll kill her myself and you won't be able to stop me."

"Why can't we have any conversation without you threatening me about something?" Logan shook his head.

"...Not a word to Charles about this."

"He'll find out anyway, y'know," he replied, confidently.

"How are you feeling, Erik?" Charles asked as he opened the door a minute later.

"Just wonderful, Charles," Erik said, sarcastically.

"Ah...well then, you won't be pleased to about Aziza...she's..."

"What?"

"She's sleeping," Charles said.

"Oh..." Erik threw his head back, "Why is she sleeping...oh...I see...because we're too powerful for her..." he sighed when he heard Charles' thoughts.

"Yes. I can only suppose that in switching our abilities she exhausted herself. We probably have the...more considerable abilities that she's ever exchanged."

"This is not my night," the German muttered.

"Not mine either," Logan mumbled and Erik shot him a dark look.

"Something wrong?" Charles asked him.

"No, nothin'..." Logan said quickly, "I'm just gonna...go for a smoke..." he added before he walked off, leaving the two alone.

"Please tell me you didn't end up having an argument again," Charles sighed once Logan was gone.

"It's nothing," the German insisted whilst gently rubbing his temples and forehead.

"Really, Erik," the Professor sighed.

"Charles, this isn't helping me at all."

"Believe me, I know how you feel," Charles said, "But I can't do much of anything to help you. All I can do is try and teach you how to properly block out other minds so that you can help yourself. Just try and focus on my mind and we'll work from there," he said, sitting opposite his friend.

"I don't think that's...I tried focusing on Logan's mind and I saw too much..."

"I'm much more qualified for this than Logan."

"What if I...I don't know...knock you out or something..."

"You'd rather the alternative?"

"...Yes...no...I don't want to..."

"Just try, Erik, otherwise you'll go mad, trust me. I'll be perfectly fine," Charles told him calmly.

Erik let out a defeated sigh before he listened carefully for Charles' familiar voice and he was lead directly into the Professor's mind. It was a haven of calm compared to his own but what he didn't realise was that Charles was just as conflicted as he was, the Professor was just better at hiding it. He was also trying hard not to use Erik's powers, even accidentally because he knew that it would make Erik feel even more vulnerable. That, Erik saw and was appreciatI've of. He also saw saw and felt Charles' compassion and understanding at what had happened to him and experienced memories from Charles' childhood about exactly how he felt and how the young boy had learnt to deal with his ever growing abilities. For a moment it seemed to work. Erik's consciousness was more or less protected inside the calm mind of his friend which still had its deeply ingrained telepathic barriers despite the loss of his abilities.

But despite all this, what was weighing more heavily on Erik's mind was what he'd seen in Logan's only minutes ago and it was infinitely more important to him than his own discomfort. It meant that his focus slipped and the thousand voices returned.

"It's not working...I can still hear them all..." he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"You're not concentrating enough...you're distracted. What's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"Erik..."

"It's nothing, let me try again," the German snapped.

"The result will be the same, you'll only tire yourself out."

"I won't," Erik said, "Stop worrying, I'm fine," he insisted.

"No, you're not," Charles shot back but Erik, as Charles expected, ignored his warning and he felt the German's inexperienced use of telepathy hone in on his mind again.

Erik reached once more for the calm beacon that was Charles' mind which was now even more layered with concern about him and he couldn't help but remember what he'd seen happen in Logan's future. Of course, this meant that Charles saw it too and he instantly understood what was distracting his friend.

"I see...you saw...my death," Charles breathed.

"How did you know that? You can't have..."

"You have no control right now of what you show me whilst you're in my mind, Erik. I may not have control of my own abilities anymore but I still know the disciplines."

"Oh."

"I was hoping you'd never find out about it."

"Why? You should have told me."

"I didn't want to think about it myself. How do you think it made me feel, seeing myself die through Logan's eyes?"

"You do nothing but overthink, Charles, regardless of whether you want to or not, I know you well enough. You didn't tell me because you don't trust my judgment."

"You know that's not true."

"Do I?" Erik scoffed, "What else have you neglected to tell me?"

"I tell you everything."

"Eventually," the German said.

"That future isn't going to happen anymore, I didn't see any point in telling you about it," Charles reiterated, his calm facade beginning to slip.

"A woman you took in as a student because of your damn need to help people, killed you! You died and I just let it happen! I keep telling you..."

"That's enough, Erik, you're projecting your anger. We can discuss this another time, right now you need to..."

"If you say 'calm down' one more time, Charles, I swear..." Erik hissed.

"Aziza did it again, huh?" Beast asked as Logan walked into the kitchen at the same time.

"Yeah, it's the Professor and Magneto this time," the older man scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"We guessed as much," Raven sighed, "And Erik's not happy, we can feel his anger...he's projecting like Charles."

"Magneto is telepathic and the Professor has Erik's powers," Alex said, trying to prevent the grin from forming on his face, "And now they're arguing."

"And we can feel that he's pissed off too. Man, hearing Magneto yell is more than enough, we don't need to feel it too," Scott grumbled.

"'S like watching my folks arguing," Sean muttered,

"If Magneto heard you say that you know you're a dead man," Scott laughed.

"Hey, he already pushed me off a satellite once, what more can he do?"

"After all this time you still need to ask that question?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I think..." Beast began but stopped when a loud bang drew their attention.

It was the sound of a door being slammed open and crashing against the wall followed by the sounds of furious yelling.

"...Charles, come back here!" they heard Erik scream, both mentally and verbally.

"Oh, boy," Scott breathed, "I think hurricane mom and dad is headed this way."

"Which one's which?" Alex asked quietly and Raven couldn't help but scoff.

"Erik, that's enough, this isn't the best time to have this conversation," Charles shot back, sounding almost as angry as Erik. He came storming into the kitchen followed by his friend and the two seemed completely oblivious of the people sitting around the table.

"I don't care! I want you to admit that you were wrong! You don't trust me at all and you should never have kept this from me!"

"It had nothing to do with you! I was the one who died not you!"

"Wait, what?" Alex blinked.

"Died...Charles, what are you..." Raven began to ask, but both were ignored.

"You always think you know what's best for everyone! You never listen. You're so childish!"

"I'm not the one yelling!" Charles said rather loudly and contradictory.

"The hell you're not!"

"Erm...Professor, I..." Beast tried again.

"Not now, Hank," Charles cut him off, "Erik, listen to me..."

"No, you listen..." the German began, "This is all your fault. If it weren't for you and your damn...martyr complex..."

"I have a martyr complex now?!"

"Hey, can you hear something?" Logan asked Beast who nodded and gestured to the metal pot on the work surface.

"Oh," Logan muttered.

"That's nothing new! I keep telling you it's going to get you killed some day and you never listen to me. You make my life a living hell because I have to keep your new little escapades from killing you!"

"I never asked you to."

"You don't need to! That's another thing that irritates me!"

"Oh, splendid, another one," Charles threw up his arms.

"Are they drunk again?" Scott asked quietly.

"I don't think so," his brother replied, "But shouldn't we try and stop 'em...I mean...look..." he added, pointing at the cutlery left lying out on the table which was now jumping up and down dangerously.

"I'm not gonna try," Scott said.

"Anything else you'd like to get off your chest while we're at it?" Charles addressed Erik.

"Don't be funny, Charles."

"I don't find this remotely funny," the Professor replied.

What both Charles and Erik had failed to notice was that the cutlery and the pots and pans had begun to rattle and the metal handles on the cupboards were shaking too. They had been for at least half a minute now and finally, Charles seemed to head the noise. "What is that noise?!" Charles furrowed his brow and finally looked around. "Erik, calm down, you're rattling the silverware," he shook his head.

"That's not me," the German replied.

"Of course it's you, who else..." he trailed off, his face suddenly a guilty picture of realisation.

"Now who needs to calm down?"

"This is why I didn't want to do this now," Charles took a deep breath and the rattling metal in the room began to settle down.

"You were fine earlier."

"You saw me, and I did tell you that I wasn't 'fine', I was just trying to stay calm..."

"Oh, well, forgive me if this ruins your perfectly calm reputation as a cold blooded Englishman but this is a little more important..."

"Stop being petulant, Erik."

"If you'd said you were struggling with this just as much as I am then I wouldn't have..."

"You're stressed enough without me adding to it," Charles replied simply. "And I didn't lie earlier, this is less difficult for me than it is for you...but is still isn't easy...Do you really think I'm cold blooded?" he asked after a moment of silence, turning to look his friend in the eye.

"...Of course I don't," Erik acquiesced slowly, "You just...you really annoy me sometimes, you know."

"I don't mean to."

"I know that...I do, it's just easy to forget when you keep things from me like that," the German explained, looking away.

"I would have told you when the time was right," Charles told him.

"I find that hard to believe."

"But honestly, I haven't thought about it for a while now, too much foreknowledge can be dangerous."

"So you'd have let it happen?"

"No...if only to save that poor child rather than myself."

"Of course that would be your reason," Erik scoffed. "It isn't a bad think to think about your own wellbeing every once and a while, Charles, you'd save me the trouble of having to do it for you all the time."

"And I'm grateful that you do, I am, Erik, I know I don't show it enough."

"That's a lie and you know it."

"Maybe," Charles shrugged, "When was the last time we argued, really argued?" he asked,

"I don't know," Erik shrugged.

"Feels like it was a long time ago," Charles said.

"Probably wasn't that long."

"Probably not," the Professor smiled.

"I know what you're trying to do, you're trying to distract me."

"Is it working?"

"...Yes," Erik grumbled reluctantly.

"Excellent," Charles beamed, "So, chess?"

"Don't think this is over yet. I'm still not happy."

"Why don't we leave that for another time?"

"The second we get our powers back," Erik corrected him.

"Alright."

"Good," Erik breathed. "I think this is one match I'm set to win easily," he said in a much more contented tone as the two walked side by side out of the kitchen

"Why is it acceptable for you to use my powers to cheat but when I use them it disqualifies me?" Charles asked.

"Because I say so," Erik replied before they were out of earshot.

"What...was that all about?" Sean asked slowly a moment later.

"I don't know," Raven furrowed her brow and turned to Logan, "Do you know anything about this?"

"Nope," he lied smoothly, "I'm going for a smoke," he repeated with a heavy heart, feeling as though this whole mess was, once again his fault.