And so that is how Erik ended up on the side of the road at three in the afternoon in the pouring rain. He clutched his two suitcases by his side protectively and stepped out of the cab, preparing himself for the storm outside. He dragged himself through the mud and reached the front door of the Xavier estate, suddenly feeling unsure of himself.

But he couldn't turn back, no. That was no longer an option.

"Magneto, what are you doing?" Frost asked, entering his room silently.

Erik jumped slightly at her voice, not noticing her entering the room. It was right after breakfast, and he had slipped right into his quarters without a word and had stayed in there for a good hour without leaving once.

"The better question, Frost," Erik asked, sounding calm to cover up his shock when she entered the room, stepping obviously in front of his luggage pile. "Is what are you doing?"

Frost squinted at him, then sighed.

"I really do hate that helmet," she shrugged as she glided forward to perch on the edge of his bed. "But even without telepathy, it's pretty clear to understand what you are doing."

Erik gave up and sat down. Frost was sharp, there was no mistaking.

"You're escaping," she voiced. "I figured it would only be a matter of time. Yours and Charles' minds were too melded together to ever be separated."

Erik was speechless.

"Are… are you going to try to stop me?"

Emma laughed gingerly and shook her head.

"No, no, of course not. I know how to pick my battles, Magneto. I know I'm no match against you so long as you keep that idiotic helmet on. I'll let you go, but understand this, your absence makes me the next leader. I will not fail as you and Shaw have. I will lead my fellow mutants into a new nation."

Erik nodded and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"You are truly magnificent. I wish you luck on your endeavors."

Emma nodded and bit her lip, her mood suddenly changing.

"Just, don't get yourself killed by one of our own, okay? I would hate for that to happen."

"Wouldn't it be worse to get killed by an ordinary human?" Erik laughed.

Emma looked distraught, a look that didn't suit her well.

"You… treated me well. Much better than Shaw, anyways. With you, I always felt equal. So…"

She struggled with her words, not fully understanding how to display appreciation or kindness.

'Thank… thank you, I guess."

Erik smiled endearingly. Oh, he would miss his trusted advisor. With one squeeze of her shoulder, he finished packing his belongings and was out the door in a flash. He left without saying goodbye; he seemed to always skip those parts. He hated endings.

Frost maintained the decency to protect Erik from the eyes of his… old… followers until he evacuated the vicinity, where he then hopped into a cab and directed the cabbie straight to the Xavier estate.

And now Erik felt doubt. Doubt and regret and fear and pain… standing on the top step of the Xavier household. He hadn't seen Charles in eight months… and he hadn't ever seen him in a wheelchair. He hadn't seen him at all since he was laying bloody in the sand, possibly dying. He wasn't sure what he should even prepare himself for. Would he be welcomed? Would he be turned away? Would they fight him? Alone, Erik surely could not win. He did not know how many recruits Charles had gained since he left him, but he was estimating it was a lot. If how long Beast had said Charles spent in Cerebro was anything to go by, Erik guessed there would be dozens.

Slowly, he raised his hand to knock on the ornate double doors. The sound seemed to reverberate through the metal of his helmet, which he still kept securely on his head, afraid of what may happen if he were to take it off. It had become a sort of safety blanket to him, and taking it off most surely meant doom.

The door opened, and Erik was met with an unfamiliar face. It was a girl, and she had soft features, a round face, and dark brunette hair. She looked to be no older than 18. He was caught off guard, half-expecting Charles to be the one to answer the door. But of course it wasn't, he would be too busy to greet guests, and he doubted they had many anyways.

A look of terror seized the girl's features, and she screamed, and suddenly he felt cold. So, so cold and he thinks he collapsed, because he couldn't feel the ground underneath his feet anymore. He gasped and shouted but the cold numbness wouldn't go away, and his vision started to blur, then to fade, and he vaguely thought, 'Well, this sucks…'

"Tundra! Tundra, stop it right now!" he heard the familiar growl that had been haunting his memories, and he didn't think he'd ever been so happy to hear it as he did now.

All of a sudden the cold was gone, and Erik's vision as well as his sense was back, and he stared in awe as his skin started to turn from pearly white to its normal tan shade.

"Beast!" she exclaimed furiously, in a thick accent. "This is Magneto, our enemy! We cannot allow him to pass through these doors, Professor X would not be pleased!"

"It's alright, Tundra," Beast gave her a pat on the back. "He's my guest. You may leave."

Tundra narrowed her eyes at Beast, then turned to glare at Erik. She was clearly confused, and determined to do her duty to Charles, but Beast was respected around here, and she relented, brusquely walking away.

"Sorry about that," Beast apologized, offering Erik a small smile and pushing his glasses up. "Some of the new recruits are a bit… edgy. Your name is everywhere now, and they've had such tough lives… Charles really relates to them, you know? He inspires them all, they just want to help him so badly."

Erik nodded curtly, his throat closing in but he wouldn't let himself show any emotion… not yet.

"Anyways, I was hoping you would come," Beast shuffled him in, and he could hear the sounds of life filling the mansion. "We need you. I knew the face we were seeing in the news, the destruction you were causing… Magneto wasn't the real you. I just wish it didn't take you so long to realize that. I wish you realized it all along."

The 'me too' wasn't said aloud but it was implied.

"Is… is Charles home?" Erik asked, surprised at how broken his voice sounded.

Beast nodded and shifted his weight, "Of course he's home. He never leaves. The trouble is finding exactly where in this gigantic mansion. Hmmm, let's see…"

Beast looked around in mock-pondering, and Erik had to smile at how easily he seemed to accept him back, like he hadn't completely screwed up the last eight months.

"He could either be in the library reading about genetic mutation and depriving his body of its daily needs, staring out the window in the West Corridor at the satellite and missing you more than you deserve, training with some of the recruits out in the courtyard and putting himself in mortal peril, or sitting in his room wallowing in self-pity."

He looked up at Erik and arched an eyebrow.

"That's a lot of options. Which would you like to try first?"

Erik shrugged, slightly amused.

"Well, I have an idea! How about you take that stupid helmet off and let him know a guest has arrived? Maybe he'll find you."

Erik felt a bundle of nerves knot up in his stomach and he backed up a few steps.

"What? No, no I couldn't! I mean… I can't. It's… it's…"

"Erik," Beast looked at him all-knowingly. "I'm no fashion police, but that get-up makes you look like a drag queen that reads too many comic books. Never mind the helmet, please, just change everything."

Erik was half-embarrassed and half-insulted.

"Come here," Beast urged him on. "There's some extra clothes in the closet in the empty guest room. Something's bound to fit you. You just can't meet Charles like this."

Erik dutifully followed him, half because he wasn't sure how else to react, and half because if he was being honest, he didn't want Charles to see him like this either. He didn't want to be Magneto anymore.

Beast ushered him into the walk-in closet and closed the door behind him.

"Pick anything you want," he shouted after him. "Anything's better than what you're wearing now!"

Erik confusedly dug through the vast amount of clothes stored in the extra closet. Most of it was Charles' old clothes, that would certainly not fit him, and some of it was even some of Mystique's clothes. Erik's heart sank, wondering how she was doing right now. If she knew he had abandoned her yet…

Something caught Erik's eye, and with surprise he grabbed for it. He stared at the black turtleneck in astonishment, recognizing it as his own.

He kept this…

He immediately removed his Magneto garb and pulled it over his head, the tight fit feeling familiar and comforting, like he had gained a piece of Erik back. He located a pair of pants that also used to belong to him and put them on as well, along with a pair of his old shoes.

He kept all my stuff…

Erik was way happier about this than he should have been.

He looked at himself in the full length mirror and stood proudly, recognizing his reflection more than he had in eight months.

There was still one thing off.

The helmet.

Erik sighed, panic seizing his chest. He reached for it but faltered. He had grown so accustomed to wearing it, he didn't even feel it anymore. He even slept with it on. He was afraid he would feel unsafe and vulnerable when he took it off, as well as incomplete.

But goddamn it if he didn't feel incomplete without the familiar feeling of Charles buzzing through his mind, either. And he came here expecting his trust. How could he gain it without giving a little away himself?

He gripped the helmet tightly and clenched his teeth.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to no one in particular and he screwed his eyes up and lifted it.

If anyone's worried about this becoming OC-infested with the new recruits, don't worry. I'm not a fan of OC's myself and Tundra was just thrown in there to show that there WERE new recruits and also I wanted Erik to be greeted by someone he doesn't know. She will probably never be mentioned again, and the new recruits will only ever be mentioned in passing. I won't focus on them, simply because I just want to focus on the real X-men. The only reason they're here also is because at this point the X-men from the older movies were probably too young to join them, and clearly Wolverine is not interested yet, so... uncannon ones it is.