Setting: X-Men First Class
Chapter: 1: Midnight Visitor
Summary: The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

Chapter Word Count: 955

A/N: ok, this is basically a repost, and a rename. The story was deleted from both and my computer but I found it and after rereading it, I got interested again and I just had to repost it. For those that had been reading before, I hope you're still a fan now…I really am sorry about the deleting.

Disclaimer: X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

My Disclaimer: If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"
'Thinking'
"dream"
"Speaking telepathically"

Charles ran a hand through his hair as he stood in front of the window in the study. His mind was filled with everything that had happened earlier; from the President's speech, to trying to reassure the teens that everything would be alright, knowing they'd be facing Shaw tomorrow, the fight with Erik and the one with Raven.

With a sigh, he turned away from the window and headed over to the bar; grabbing the bottle of scotch, he took out a glass and as he filled it, he glanced at the table where the abandoned chess set lay.

Chess had always been a part of his life. He had first gotten interested due to his father and had quickly become a master at it, but when Brian Xavier passed away, so did his only chance of truly playing and enjoying the game…until he met Erik.

The German brought back a pleasure he had, for a long time, thought he would never experience again. Raven wasn't one for chess, and as a child and a teen, he sure as hell wouldn't have asked his mother and especially not his stepfather or stepbrother. But with Erik, he found another person that loved the game as much as he did.

But it wasn't just the game that drew him to the stoic, older man. There was just something about Erik, something that called to him. From the moment he touched Erik's mind that night he pulled him out of the water, he had been captivated. Of all the minds he touched, Erik was different; being in his mind was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. It was dark and harsh and there were a lot of pain and anger and rage, and yet, it was soft and there were flashes of light and hope and it was those that led him to believe there was more to the man than believed.

He knew everything about him and he knew him better than anyone else, but sometimes he felt as if he didn't know the man at all. Point in case, their conversation tonight; he had hoped to try and change the German's mind from this plan of vengeance, but instead, all he had done was to make Erik angry and if that wasn't bad enough, he had a feeling that he had seriously messed up his relationship with his sister.

"That's because you always want to control everything and sometimes, you can't," a voice said.

Charles' head flew up and he stared in shock and surprise at the person standing a short distance away. His body tensed and he took a slight step back, "Who are you?"

"Who am I is not important," the person said, "What is important is what I have to say."

Charles was intrigued, and yet terrified at the same time. He couldn't read the person's mind and that was what was terrifying because it meant he had no idea how they got into the mansion and into his study without being seen by one of the kids, or by Eric who had already familiarized himself with the metal of the house, and the metal that everyone else wore, and would know if a foreign metal was present.

"Can't read my mind, can you?" the person smirked. "That's ok; even if you could, you wouldn't understand what you see anyways."

"What have you done to the others?" Charles asked. He had tried calling out for help mentally, but received no response from any of the others.

"Nothing," the person answered, "the reason they aren't answering your mental call is because from the moment you noticed me, your telepathy has been blocked."

Charles froze. He had never heard of anyone being able to block his powers; only Emma had been able to.

"Yes, Ms. Frost was talented, wasn't she?" the person chuckled.

'Was?' Charles thought to himself.

"Yes was," the person said, "but please, don't bother asking as Ms. Frost's life is not what's important. We do not have the time. You need to know this."

"What do I need to know?" Charles asked, pushing the miniscule information he had gleaned about Emma to the far recess of his mind.

"Can you read a book and know everything about the book but never understand just what the book is about?" the person asked instead of answering Charles' question.

Charles' brows came together as he turned the question over in his mind. "You read a book to understand what it's about. Why read one if you're just reading it to read it and you're not going to make the effort to understand what it is you're reading?"

The person stared at Charles and a small smile played at their lips, "Interesting answer. Although I expect nothing less from a genius; what is it you studied? Genetics?" the person waved his hand in the air, "that's not important. What is important is what's going to happen a few hours from now."

"What do you mean?" Charles asked. "Will you stop speaking in riddles and tell me just what it is you came here for? I don't want to hurt you."

The person straightened up and looked Charles directly in his eyes, "Alright, I'll tell you. In a few hours, you and your team will face off against Shaw. The outcome of the confrontation between Erik and Shaw will change the course of everyone's future. You and Erik are at wars right now because of your personal beliefs; you believe that Erik doesn't have to kill Shaw while Erik believes he has to. I am going to show you the outcome of both choices."

The person walked over to Charles and grabbed his shoulder. "Here we go."

A/N 2: and there's the chapter…since you're at this point, review so I can know what you thought…