Setting: X-Men First Class
Chapter: 8: Shaping Their Future
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: 7,252

A/N: it's been some time, but here is the new, and final, chapter. Thanks to those still interested and that keep me going

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'
"Speaking telepathically"

Over the course of the next few weeks, Hank was barely seen as the scientist stayed cooped up in his lab working diligently on creating something that would allow Scott to open his eyes and to control his power.

During that time, progress on the mansion was going along smoothly.

To help with the more difficult jobs—like installing the elevators, building the basketball court with the space for the jet beneath, the swimming pool—contractors had been called in. Of course, after the job was over, the memories would be rearranged.

June was almost over when Hank finally finished what he was doing.

~…~

Everyone was in the kitchen, waiting as Janos prepared lunch. Raven and Azazel were sitting close, whispering to each other and sharing smiles, Alex and Sean were talking to Scott making him giggle and Erik and Charles were having their own conversation when Hank rushed into the kitchen.

"Whoa what's the fire?" Sean asked as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the scientist.

"I finished it!" Hank declared with a wide grin.

"Finished what?" Raven asked.

Alex's eyes went wide and Erik and Charles looked at the scientist with pride.

"Scott's glasses," Charles answered.

"Seriously?" Alex asked as he stood up, making sure to keep a hand on Scott's shoulder.

"Seriously," Hank pushed his glasses back up his nose as he walked further into the room, coming to a stop next to his boyfriend. "It's done."

"Well show us!" Sean said.

Hank reached into the lab coat pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. They were big, like Aviator glasses, but there was a different colour to them.

"What's up with the colour?" Raven asked.

"I used the same element that is in Alex's chest plate," Hank explained. "It's going to help him see while also keeping his blast at bay."

"Dude that is awesome!" Sean jumped out of his seat in excitement.

Hank gave the glasses to Alex. "Try them on and let me know if they worked. If they didn't, I can do more work on them."

Alex took them, after a quick kiss to Hank's lips, and then turned to his brother, "Scott, Hank made something for you to wear over your eyes. Keep them close until I tell you, ok?"

"OK," Scott nodded.

"Not that I don't trust that you know what you're doing McCoy," Erik spoke up, "but perhaps it would be better if you performed this little experiment downstairs just in case it didn't work."

"Splendid idea," Charles grinned, "Azazel, take Scott, Alex and Hank to the bunker if you please?"

The red-skinned man nodded and the four disappeared, leaving the smell of sulphur behind.

Just minutes later, they reappeared.

"Well?" Raven asked.

"It worked!" Alex laughed.

Scott looked around the room, eyes wide behind the glasses, "I can see!"

"That's great kiddo!" Charles smiled, "Well, I guess introductions are due again. My names is Charles Xavier, and this is Erik Lehnsherr."

"I'm Mystique," Raven waved, "but you can call me Raven."

"You're really blue!" Scott said, sounding awe.

"Yep," Raven nodded proudly.

"Cool!" Scott grinned, "I wish I was blue."

"No you don't," Sean shook his head. He laughed and ducked out the way when Raven reached out to smack him.

Scott laughed and then his eyes went wide again as he saw Azazel. "Wow, he's red and he has a tail! That is so cool!"

Azazel chuckled and brought his tail up and around to wrap around Scott's wrist and started shaking it, making the boy laugh, before dropping his tail back down.

"His name is Azazel," Charles finished the introductions, "And that is Janos by the stove."

Scott turned and waved, "Hi."

"Hola," Janos waved back.

As the teens crowded around Scott, Charles leaned against Erik and Alex pulled Hank away.

"Thank you," Alex smiled and leaned up to kiss Hank.

Hank grinned into the kiss and then pulled back, "It was my pleasure."

"You're a freaking genius, you know that?" Alex shook his head, "I'm glad you're mine."

"Same here," Hank nodded and kissed the blond again.

In lieu of Hank's achievement, the rest of the day was spent relaxing.

~…~

By the time the summer was over, the mansion was completed and they had gained two new students.

The first one was a redheaded little girl named Jean Grey. She was a telekinetic, a powerful one at that as her powers had completely unlocked after witnessing one of her best friends get hit by a car.

The second was a dark-skinned girl with snow white hair named Ororoe Monroe. Raven had given her the name of Storm because of the fact that she could manipulate the weather, change it to what she wanted or create a storm if needed. They had had to travel to Africa to find her.

Both girls had quickly become close, and had gotten along well with Scott despite the initial awkward moments that came with living with a boy their age.

The years went by and soon enough, the sixties were almost over.

Scott, Jean and Storm were now in their teens—16 each—and were the oldest mutants that had joined the school.

Over the years, other mutants had joined as well, and slowly Charles' dream was being realized.

Not to say that he did things his way completely. No.

Erik had told him while it was good idea that the children would learn to harness their gifts, they also needed to be able to defend themselves, so he had started a self-defence class. As a compromise to Charles, he had made the suggestion of giving the kids an option when they got older; they could learn how to use their powers offensively or defensively.

Those who wanted to use it defensively, would take an additional class with Erik where they would learn to wield their powers as a weapon, and those who weren't comfortable with that, would continue with the self-defence classes but would only learn how to control their power.

It was a suggestion that was met with approval by everyone.

Of course Raven and Alex wanted in on the defensive class, as did Storm and Sean, while Jean and Hank preferred being in the lab.

The redhead had taken a shine to the medical and scientific experiments that Hank had been doing and after talking things over with Erik and Charles, had expressed an interest in medicine.

Both had thought it was a good idea and had supported her plans wholeheartedly to go off to college to study as long as she came back to the school to help them teach.

That was another thing that had happened. Finding more teachers for the school; as Charles had wanted the students to have almost exactly the same curriculum as regular schools, he had to find people to fill those spots.

Erik of course had taken over the Foreign Language section, as well as Geography, teaching German, Italian and French while Azazel and Janos contributed with Russian and Spanish respectively.

Janos also taught Cooking Classes while Hank taught Chemistry and Engineering.

Alex had decided to go to college, where he did generals as he had no idea what he wanted to do with his future, while Sean surprised them all—except Charles of course and Erik—by going for Aerodynamics.

Raven had decided to go into computer technology, declaring that she wanted to learn how to hack, much to the others delight and Charles' somewhat slight disapproval.

Charles of course taught Literature, and they had found someone to teach both Mathematics and History. Of course the two teachers had gone through a thorough mental check—courtesy of Charles—and everyone had been relieved when the check had revealed that both were sympathetic to mutants and would help them rather than harm them.

All in all, as the years went on, things were going quite well for those at the mansion…at least until the mid '70s.

~…~

Scott went down the stairs hoping to find his older brother. A few of them were going into town, and he wanted to let Alex know where he was going.

"Hey Mystique," Scott smiled when he caught sight of the blue-skinned woman.

"Hey Scott," Raven grinned in return. She loved hearing her "name" whenever someone said it.

"Have you seen Alex?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," Raven nodded, "he's in the kitchen with Hank. He finally managed to drag him from the lab to get something to eat."

Scott shook his head. When he found out that his brother was gay, it hadn't even bothered. Sure, he had his questions like how everything worked, but he saw how happy his brother was with Hank and that was enough for him.

The two entered the kitchen to find not only Hank and Alex, but Erik and Charles as well.

"Hey," Scott greeted.

"What's up?" Alex asked once he looked at his brother.

"A few of the kids wants to go into town," Scott said, "And I'm gonna go with them."

"Ok," Alex nodded, "but be careful."

Scott rolled his eyes behind his glasses, "I'm not a kid anymore Alex. Of course I'll be careful."

"You're still my little brother," Alex grinned, "so to me, you'll always be a kid."

Scott scowled, "I hate you."

"Love you too," Alex replied cheerfully.

"Be back by lunch," Erik spoke up.

If it was anyone else, like say Alex, then Scott would've considered ignoring the words and just returning whenever he felt like it, but this was Erik. And truth be told, even after living with him all these years, the man still scared him.

If Charles was the mother of the house, then Erik was definitely the father and he was one person you did not want to cross.

Charles looked over at Scott and grinned. "While I do—even to now—still dislike the idea of being called the mother, you are right. And I know your young, but do try to be on time? You do not want Erik to be angry at you."

Scott grimaced at that. No he did not.

"Alright," Scott nodded, "We'll back by lunch."

"Who's all going?" Hank asked.

"Well I'm going obviously," Scott said as he grabbed one of his brother's fries, "but so is Jean, Storm, Eve, Aqua and Peter."

"Have fun," Charles gave a little wave and turned to Erik. "Fancy a game of chess?"

Erik's answering smile was wide and predatory and the two men left the kitchen.

"Why do I get the feeling that they weren't talking about the game?" Scott asked.

Raven laughed, "Because they weren't."

Scott, Hank and Alex groaned.

"Oh God," Scott shook his head, "I'm gonna leave now before I'm scarred even more."

"Have fun," Raven waved, "I'm gonna go find Az."

"Bye," Scott smiled as he left the kitchen. 'This is gonna be so much fun.'

He had no idea how wrong he would be.

~…~

Charles let out a chuckle as Erik pulled him back to his chest. Both men panting a little after their activities.

The two kissed, letting it become more passionate the longer it stopped.

"You'd think you'd be satisfied," Charles said mentally.

"With you…never," came the roguish reply from Erik.

Charles pulled back from the kiss and frowned.

"Charles?" Erik spoke out loud at the emotions he could feel radiating from his lover, "What is it?"

"Something's wrong," Charles said. Seconds later, his eyes widened. "We gotta go…NOW!"

The two men got dressed quickly and made their way downstairs just in time to see Jean and the others rush through the door.

The sheer terror coming off of them had Charles staggering into Erik.

Erik took one look at them and his body stiffened, "What happened?"

Charles gasped as he pulled the information from their minds. "They were attacked."

Erik looked over the young mutants, frowning when he realized he couldn't see Scott. "Where's—

"They took him," Charles finished.

At that moment, Alex walked into the hallway, obviously coming from the basement. "You're back already."

The blond frowned as he looked over the others, taking in the bruises and ripped clothing and he hurried over to them. "What the hell happened?"

He stopped when he realized he couldn't see his brother, "Where's Scott?"

Eve and Aqua let out a cry and held each other and Peter looked away.

"I'm sorry," Jean wiped her tears. "We tried to stop them."

"Where's my brother?" Alex demanded, fear and panic filling him.

"They took him," Storm answered, "they took Scott."

~…~

The news of Scott's kidnapping spread throughout the mansion.

Alex was distraught—naturally—and Hank was the only one that could go near him right now.

Charles and Erik had to talk to the others and let them know that no one blamed them and it was not their fault.

Charles had searched through their minds, but it was difficult to find out what had happened as everything was jumbled and seemed like a blur.

"What do we do?" Sean asked as he looked around the room.

"We need to find out exactly what happened," Charles told them, "Erik and I are going to go into town where it happened, to see what we can find."

"Can't you try to find him using Cerebro?" Raven asked her brother.

"I will," Charles nodded

"But before we do that," Erik picked up, "We need to exactly who we're dealing with."

"Who gives a fuck who we're dealing with?!" Alex snapped as he stood and started pacing, "Some dumbasses took my brother and you want us to go play detective?!"

The temperature in the room dropped as Erik levelled a gaze at Alex. The normal jovial eyes were ice cold and his face looked as if it was carved from granite.

Alex swallowed and took a step back when Erik stood up.

"I do understand," Erik began, his voice calm, "that you are upset over your brother. We all are. However, there is only so far my understanding will go and I will not allow you to speak to Charles or myself like that again. Are we clear?"

Alex looked away briefly, "Yes."

"Good," Erik nodded, "Now, Charles had a point. If we do not know who took Scott, and why, then we do not know how proceed and we risk more damage if we rush in with no strategy."

"So what's the plan?" Hank asked, laying a hand on Alex's arm to pull him back to sitting next to him.

"Charles is going to use his telepathy to search the mind of the people who witnessed it," Erik said, "It's possible that one of them saw something that one you missed."

"And when you do?" Storm asked, looking at each of her mentors.

"Then we plan," Charles said, sharing a look with Erik.

"We should go now," Erik said.

Charles stood up, "Alright. We'll be back. Just stay calm." He turned to Alex, "please do not leave until we return. We will find out what happened and we will get him back."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Hank nodded.

"Good," Charles nodded and then, he and Erik left.

~…~

The drive into town was filled with tension, yet it wasn't the awkward or uncomfortable kind. Both men were worried about Scott and they wondered just who could've taken him.

They got to the scene, to find complete chaos. Buildings were torn apart, cars were upturned and cops were all over. Luckily, there wasn't anyone injured too seriously.

"Those are results from Scott's power," Erik said. A glint caught his eye and he looked down. Bending down, he grabbed the object that had caught his attention.

It was Scott's sunglasses.

Erik turned to Charles. When he saw the intense concentration in the blue eyes, as well as the question, he nodded and didn't move. "Careful maus."

"I will," Charles replied. Taking a deep breath, he released some of his hold on his powers. Instantly, everyone froze. Easily, he slipped into the minds of everyone around, picking through their memories as they tried to get a sense of what was going on.

He found a few.

Scott, Jean, Storm, Eve, Peter and Aqua were all smiles as they walked down the street. The six young people were talking among themselves and laughing with each other.

Scott went into a store by himself as the others continued on to the restaurant just a short distance away.

Scott came out a few minutes later and was heading after the others when the attack happened. A heavy set man, with what looked like claws stopped in front of him and pushed him back.

Scott tried to go around, but the man wouldn't let him. Scott then looked at the man and took a step backwards and another.

He made to run across the street but the man chased him.

The other five came out of the restaurant at the screams and saw Scott trying to outrun a man. They try to help, but are attacked by others.

Scott tries to run to his friends, but the man chasing him—like a wolf or tiger?—clips the back of his foot, sending the young man to the ground.

His glasses fly off and laser beams shoots out of both eyes. The man lands on Scott's back while a vehicle pulls up and an older man dressed in military gear gets out and walks over to them, shooting Scott in the back.

They throw him in the truck and quickly depart.

Charles pulled back from the minds and everything resumed without knowledge of what had just happened.

"Charles?" Erik reached out a hand to steady his lover.

"I saw what happened," Charles looked up at the German, "I know who took Scott."

"Who was it?" Erik asked.

"Colonel Stryker's son, William Stryker," Charles told him.

~…~

When Erik and Charles got back to the mansion, they were immediately bombarded by the others.

"What did you find out?" Alex asked, "Do you know who took him?"

"Yes," Charles nodded.

"Who was it?" Raven asked from her position next to Azazel.

"William Stryker," Charles threw a look at his sister.

"You mean," Raven started, yellow eyes narrowed in thought.

"Yeah," Charles nodded, "Colonel Stryker's son."

"That bastard!" Raven cursed.

"What does he want with Scott?" Alex asked, hands shaking slightly.

Hank reached out and took Alex's hand in his own, offering comfort to his boyfriend.

"We don't know," Erik answered calmly.

"So we get him back," Azazel spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.

Sean nodded in agreement, "When do we go?"

"Before we make any plans to go anywhere," Charles spoke up, "I'll try to find Scott using Cerebro."

Hank got up from the table and left the room with Erik and Charles.

"He's going to be fine, right?" Storm asked, "They're going to find him?"

"They will," Jean nodded as she hugged her best friend.

"They have to," Alex whispered.

~…~

Charles, Erik and Hank quickly made their way to Cerebro.

When they got to the room, Erik held back Charles while Hank went ahead and set the machine up.

"What is it?" Charles turned to look at the taller man.

Erik's eyes were hard and his thoughts were a whirlpool of danger.

"You know what will have to happen to get Scott back?" Erik asked. He needed his telepath to understand how serious things were and if there were any qualms about what they would have to do.

Charles' own eyes hardened and he gave a sharp nod, "I do. I'm not losing anyone Erik."

"Good," Erik nodded. "But just one thing; do be careful. When we rescue Scott, we will encounter trouble. If anything, anything, happens to you Charles—

"I know," Charles cut him off as he stepped closer to the metal bender, "the same warning goes to you."

The two shared an intense but brief kiss before entering the room.

Charles quickly connected to Cerebro and his mind was soaring out, trying to locate their missing friend.

He managed to ignore the minds out there, those crying for help, and focused on trying to find Scott.

~…~

It took a few days to narrow down where exactly Scott was and then it another day or two to fly out to where Charles had pinpointed his location.

Jean and the others had wanted to join the rescue mission, but Charles had decided against it; in the end, Charles, Erik, Hank and Alex—who had made it quite clear he wasn't going to be left behind—had been a part of the mission. Raven had decided to stay back at the mansion with Janos and Azazel as someone needed to watch over the kids.

Hank set the jet down as close as he could get it to the building. Before it had even settled, Alex was already out of his seat.

"Alex, wait!" Charles called as he and Erik followed the man.

Alex turned around to glare at his mentor, but stopped for two reasons; one, he saw the earnest expression on Charles' face, something no one could ignore or be mad at, and two, the look Erik was giving him dared him to continue. He didn't care how old he got, Erik would never stop scaring the crap out of him.

Charles released a deep breath and focused his telepathy towards the structure in front of them. He felt Erik's presence in the back of his mind, and as always, he used it to anchor as he connected with the minds inside.

It took a while, but he found Scott.

"I found him!" Charles said, his mind still connected.

Alex gripped Hank's hand, tightening it almost painfully—or rather, it would've been painful for anyone other than Hank…and Erik.

"Is he ok?" Alex asked, the worry obvious in his voice.

"He's with a group of mutants," Charles told him, "they're trying to find their way out."

"Erik…make an entrance please," Charles told his lover, already showing him just where Scott and the others would be coming.

Erik grinned at Charles and then stepped forward. Instantly, he searched out the metal running through the walls, and then, he pulled.

The groaning sound filled the air and Alex and Hank winced at the noise, both stepping back as the wall broke apart in front of them.

By the time Erik was done, huge amounts of the wall lay on the ground around them and there was a huge hole. And while Alex and Hank knew they shouldn't be surprised at the man's strength nor his power, they were still in awe, despite having been around to watch him use them over the years as they grew.

"Where is he?!" Alex looked around, eyes wild, as he tried to spot his younger brother and the other mutants.

"He'll be here," Hank assured him, reaching out to grab his lover's hand. He pulled Alex into a hug, gently running his hand up and down the blond's back in a soothing motion, "The professor is guiding them. Don't worry. He'll be here."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, did Charles turn slightly to the two men, "Hank, do you have the shades?"

Pulling away from Alex, Hank shifted the bag from off his shoulder and dug through it, pulling out a pair of sunglasses and handed them to the older man. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Charles took the glasses and took a step forward at the same moment they became aware of the group at the entrance, staring wide eye at them.

"Alex?" Scott called out, knowing from the professor, that his brother was there.

Hearing his brother, Alex took off and rushed to his side. "I'm here."

Biting his lip, Scott reached out blindly and gasped when he felt Alex's hand in his own and he buried his face in his brother's chest, inhaling the familiar and comforting scent, "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Never," Alex gasped out, tightening his embrace, "I'll always come after you Scott…always. You and I, we're never going to be apart again."

Nodding, Scott said nothing.

"Come on," Alex said, pulling back from the hug and leading his brother, and the other mutants, over to Charles and the others.

Erik's eyes tracked the two men, but they shifted and narrowed when they caught sight of the blonde girl walking close to the two brothers.

There was something familiar about her.

"She's Emma's daughter," Charles' voice echoed in the German's mind,

"What?!" Erik's head snapped over to the telepath. The disbelief was clear to read.

"I'm very much telling the truth," Charles gave a wry chuckle, "Emma gave her up. She was with Shaw at the time and gave the baby away. Her name is Emily."

"We're wasting time standing around," Erik said out loud. "We need to leave."

"Who are you?" Emily asked, looking between Erik, Charles and Hank.

"All in due time my dear," Charles smiled at her and then directed his attention to the other mutants, "I will explain who I am, just not now. Magneto is right, we need to leave. Now, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I am asking you to."

"Where are you taking us?" a female mutant asked.

"To a place where mutants can use your powers without fear of punishment or being subjected to experiments," Charles answered, "You will be safer with us than anywhere else."

The mutants all looked at each other before nodding.

"Alex here," Charles gave the shades to the blond.

"Thanks," Alex murmured as he took the shades and placed them on Scott's face. "It's ok to open your eyes now."

Scott let out a sigh as he opened his eyes, taking in his brother's features. "There you are."

Alex grinned and gave Scott a squeeze.

"Let's go," Erik said as he gestured for them to head to the jet. "Strap yourselves in tightly."

The mutants did as they were told, some still holding tight to each other as they made their way to the ship, with Alex and Scott leading them.

Erik and Charles watched them leave before turning to look at each other.

"So," Erik started as he took a step towards his partner, "We came for Scott and now we're leaving with him and a group of mutants."

Charles grinned cheerfully, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked up at his lover, "Erik! They're kids! I couldn't leave them once I realized who was with Scott. This is our plan anyways. To find mutants and give them a safe place."

Erik rolled his eyes and reached out to pull the shorter man into him. "This was not how I expected our mission to start maus."

Charles bit his lip as he wrapped his arms around Erik's neck, "I know, but it has. And let's be honest, I'm glad it was here. Who knows what else Stryker would've done to those kids?"

"Well then," Erik replied, "it's a good thing we got here when we did."

Charles grinned in reply and kissed him.

On the jet, Emily looked back and froze when she saw the two men, "They're a couple?"

A growl echoed, making most of the mutants jump, and she turned to see the pilot glaring at her.

"You got a problem with that?" Hank asked.

Emily couldn't help but to feel like prey, like she was in the presence of a dangerous beast and she needed caution to proceed. Swallowing, she shook her head, "No…no I don't."

"Good," Hank nodded.

Emily breathed out deeply and settled into her seat, though her gaze never left the two men.

The two broke the kiss and Erik shifted to look at the building.

"Is there anyone else here that we need to rescue?" He asked.

Charles frowned a bit and cast his mind out, searching out the entire building. He felt about five minds, one being Stryker himself, a woman who was dying, and four men; three of the men were fighting each other and one of them was very familiar.

Erik's eyes narrowed when he picked up on that thought and immediately realized who it was.

Sensing the direction of the thoughts, Charles pulled back and looked over at the building. "We need to go."

Nodding, Erik raised a hand and pulled on the metal, collapsing the building even more. As much as he would love to stay and destroy the whole thing, the fight that he knew was going on would do that and they needed to get everyone out of there.

Satisfied, he pushed Charles towards the jet and the two men hurried over.

"Is everyone settled in ok?" Charles asked as they got inside and he bucked his own seatbelt.

Nods came from everyone and Emily couldn't help but to smile when she saw Scott with his brother.

"Take us home Hank," Charles ordered gently, smiling at the man.

~…~

The noise of the jet caught the attention of the mansion's occupants and Jean and the others rushed down to the hanger.

They entered the room and saw a group of mutants, as well as their two mentors, and between them, they saw Alex and he was holding Scott.

"Scott!" Ororoe called happily when she spotted her friend, immediately rushing over to him.

Jean and the others followed as well, all of them crowding around their friend.

"You're ok," Eve cried as she hugged him tight.

"Yeah," Scott nodded, hugging her back before letting go.

"Professor?" Aqua called out, her eyes scanning the group with them, "Who are all these people?"

"They were kidnapped like me," Scott was the one that answered. "The professor and Magneto brought them back with us."

"Let's get them upstairs to get cleaned and something to eat," Charles said as he ushered the group out.

~…~

Over the course of the next week, things were a bit hectic at the mansion.

The day after they had rescued Scott and the other mutants, Charles had searched out the parents, or guardians of the kids, only to find out that almost all of them had no parents and were basically in foster care.

Finding Emma hadn't been too hard. What had been difficult was telling her about Emily.

The older blonde had been shocked and curious to know about her daughter, well, curious in only the way Emma could be, and had decided to come see her.

She had arrived two days later and had spent a total of three days before she left again, this time with the intention of actually keeping in touch.

As for the others; the kids were taken care of and offered the chance to stay. Those that had no home to go back to had made the decision to stay, while some of the others chose to go back to their parents and the rest, while they had reconnected with their family, they had made the decision to attend the school.

After that, life at the mansion settled into what would be its normal routine; the kids went to their classes while they also learned how to control their gift.

As the years passed, the population of the school grew as more and more mutants were found. None of the parents were kept in the dark about what happened at the school unless they asked to, and Charles made sure to put a mental block on the parents' to prevent anyone of them from giving out the location of the mansion.

A lot of mutants came and went. All the students went off to college, and some—like Jean, Scott, Storm, Eve and Aqua—returned to teach at the school while others went off to pursue their dreams, secure with the knowledge that they could return any time.

And when the mid-2000s came around and Stryker once again went after mutants, this time attacking the school, they were ready for him. Because unlike what Erik and Charles had been shown in that glimpse of how their future could've gone, they had been working apart and this time, they were a team.

After that attack, things had changed.

Erik and Charles had finally had enough and had gone directly to the President, hoping to stop more attacks like Stryker's and to prevent a war.

It was only after Charles had shown what could and would happen, did the President finally agree to what they asked for.

It took time, but eventually, a bill was passed that granted Mutants the same rights as all other Americans and also provided safety against people like Stryker.

Like with any law, it took some time for everyone to fully acclimate to it, but it happened.

And when, a few years later, a cure was created, it was kept secured and was given only to the mutants that either felt their powers were too dangerous, or those who just wanted to be regular humans.

Epilogue

2015

Erik walked into the kitchen and went directly to the coffee pot. He had a feeling today was going to be hectic and he needed all the energy he could get.

"I think you're overreacting love," Charles smiled as he walked into the kitchen, heading directly to the taller man. "Today isn't going to be that bad."

Erik stared at the man, eyes taking in his features. At eighty, despite the fact that his hair was now completely grey and thinning, and his face had wrinkles, his blue eyes were still as sharp as ever and they still sparkled as brightly as they did when they had first met.

"Such a poet," Charles teased as he pressed his palms against Erik's chest.

"Only for you Charles," Erik chuckled. He moved a hand up to hold Charles' own against his chest, his fingers playing with the gold band on Charles' left hand. "So, my husband, what plans do you have for us this morning?"

Chares couldn't stop the giddy rush of pleasure through him at the word husband. After all the years together, he and Erik had finally been able to get legally married just three years ago. Of course in his mind, they'd been married since after The Beach Incident, but there was something about knowing that legally, Erik was his and he was Erik's, that their relationship was acknowledged by the public and treated the same the heterosexual married couples were treated, that left him flushed with pleasure.

"You're such a sap Charles," Erik teased, "even after all these years."

"That may be," Charles grinned, "but you love me."

"Oh man seriously?" John, whose mutant power was over fire and went by the name Pyro, groaned as he entered the kitchen and saw the two men. "And I haven't even had breakfast yet."

He was with four others, Marie, Bobby, Kitty and Peter.

"Shut up John," Marie rolled her eyes as she and the others took seats at the kitchen island. "I think it's cute and awesome that the Professor and Magneto are still together after all this time."

"Yeah John," Kitty added on, "It's not like you have anyone."

Peter and Bobby chuckled.

"Children play nice," Charles scolded, though he was grinning.

"What are you plans for the day?" Erik asked as he started in on making coffee for himself and tea for Charles. "I do hope it involves you lot leaving the mansion."

"Trying to get rid of us?" Bobby teased with a laugh.

"Yes," Erik didn't even bother to deny it.

"Well it's Saturday," John said, "So we're thinking of going into town."

"Leave now and make it an all-day affair," Erik said, "don't come back until dark."

"Erik!" Charles slapped his husband's chest in reproach.

"What?" Erik looked at his lover, grey-green eyes sparkling with delight.

"Ok," Kitty said as she stood up, "even this is too much cuteness for me. Love you both, I really do, but I do not need to see you two acting all lovey-dovey or God forbid sexual, with each other."

The other blanched and quickly left the kitchen, throwing goodbyes over their shoulders.

"You're horrible," Charles shook his head.

Erik grinned and grabbed the two cups and headed towards the living room. It was empty, as most everyone was either still in bed, outside enjoying the weather or somewhere else.

Charles sighed as he snuggled against his husband on the couch, his cup of Earl Grey in his hands, "I love mornings like this."

"I know love," Erik murmured as he pressed a kiss on the top of Charles' head.

Silence reigned between them, but neither man minded, nor were they in any hurry to break it.

It lasted about fifteen minutes before it was broken by the sound of little feet running towards them.

They looked up and saw Scott and Emily's youngest grandchild, Christopher.

"Grandpa Erik, Grandpa Charles," Chris called as he ran over to the couch.

Charles straightened up off of Erik and held out his hand to the little boy, "Well hello Chris."

He helped the boy up onto the couch, smiling when he settled between him and Erik.

"Did you need something little one?" Erik asked, running a hand through the boy's hair.

Neither he nor Charles had had any children and while it may have seemed strange to others—and it did, especially when they could have used a surrogate as Mystique so often told them—it was something that both men were completely comfortable with. They loved each other completely, and were in all honesty, a little selfish and only wanted the other for themselves. And in truth, neither one had had any thoughts of wanting kids, especially when they ran a whole school full.

Instead, they became Uncles to Raven and Azazel, Sean and his wife Melissa, and Alex and Hanks' children, and grandparents to Scott and Emily, Storm and Kurt, Jean and Logan, Eve and her husband Marcus, and Aqua and her husband David's children.

It was a role they enjoyed, and one they took great pleasure in.

"No," Chris shook his head as he snuggled closer Erik. "Can we watch cartoons?"

"Oh most certainly," Charles grinned and it shifted into a soft smile when Erik used his powers to bring the remote to him, "Thanks love."

Erik smiled before shifting his attention to the five year old at his side, "So what cartoon are we watching today?"

"Boomerang!" Chris answered.

"Boomerang it is," Charles nodded as he found the channel.

The three snuggled further to each other and within minutes, all three were firmly being entertained by the antics of Bugs Bunny.

~…~

Later that day, they are sitting outside, watching some of the younger kids play a game of tag—while being supervised by a few older ones—when they get a shocking surprise.

"Professor X, Professor M," Amanda, a mutant whose power was phasing, was walking up to them.

But that wasn't what had them shocked. It was who she was with. It was the same man that had first visited Charles back in 1962 and shown him the visions.

"You!" Charles said as he turned fully to face the two.

Erik tensed and Amanda looked between her mentors and her boyfriend with a frown. "You know him?"

"Who are you?" Erik asked, ready to defend if the man proved to be a threat.

"I'm not a threat," the man raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, "Professor, you can read my mind if you want to. And to be honest, that wasn't me; well, it was, sorta."

"He's ok Erik," Charles told his husband, relaxing slightly.

"My name is Jacob Henley," the man said, "I'm Amanda's boyfriend."

"What did you mean when you said it wasn't really you?" Erik asked.

Jake sighed and turned to Amanda, "Can you give us a few minutes, please?"

Amanda bit her lip and knew that something serious was happening.

"It's ok Ammie," Charles said. "Nothing's going to happen; we just want to talk to him about something concerning us."

Nodding to the professor, she smiled up at Jake, "Ok. Come find me when you're done."

"Will do," Jake nodded and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, and watched her walk away before turning back to the two men.

"Explain, now!" Erik demanded.

"My power is premonition," Jake went right into it, "not like a Seer or anything; mine is more a little more limited than that."

"How so?" Charles asked.

"I can see the future and the past, but only if I'm touching someone or something," Jake explained, "and sometimes I can see alternate timelines."

"So if your power is premonition," Erik said, "then how were you able to appear back then?"

"Another mutant," Jake answered, "One of her powers was the ability to go back in time."

"Was?" Erik asked, picking up on that word.

Jake gave a wry grin. Trust the man to pick up on that. Clearing his throat, he became a little serious, "When I came back to you, the future at that time was in extreme danger; simply put, we—meaning both mutants and humans—were in the middle of dangerous war. Everywhere people were dying. No one was safe. Penelope, the mutant, knew that to change things, we had to go back to that pivotal moment in history, the moment that truly defined the future of not only mutants, but basically the entire world."

It took a few minutes, but realization dawned on both men.

"Yes," Jake nodded, "The Beach Incident. That was where the both of you went your separate ways. Penelope knew we had to go back to then, to change that moment. She was already dying when she explained her plan to me, but while she had the power, unfortunately, she didn't have the strength. So, with the last of her strength, she used her powers to send me back."

Erik frowned, "but you appeared the day before."

Jake grinned, though his cheeks were tinged a slight pink, "Yeah, I know; it was where her powers dropped me. And, you know the rest."

"And Penelope?" Erik asked.

"I didn't meet her in this timeline," Jake shrugged, "it's probably because in the original, she and I had only met up because of the war that had been going on. This time around, the war ended before it became an issue, so we had no reason to meet. I have a feeling though that it will happen sometime."

Charles and Erik exchanged looks before turning back to Jake.

"Thank you," Charles said, "even though it wasn't really you, I'm still thankful. If it hadn't been for you and Penelope, we wouldn't be here right now. And thank you for being so forceful back then."

"You're welcome," Jake nodded, ducking his head as he blushed. Shaking his head, he looked around the grounds and couldn't help but to smile as he took in the sights of the mutants, and some humans, running around. "This was how it's supposed to be."

Charles leaned into Erik as he looked over the grounds and couldn't help but to nod in agreement.

Yes, this was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Erik squeezed Charles as he picked up on his husband's thoughts. They had gotten a second chance, both of them, and he was completely thankful for it.

Because Jake was right; this was how it was supposed to be.

END

A/N 2: and that's the story! Thanks to everyone that stuck around until now. You guys are awesome! If the last part, or the entire things, seems rushed or something, then I am so sorry! For a while, I couldn't figure out how to write the chapter and after a lot of re-writes, that's what I came up with. Please, review now that you've read.

A/N 3: Ok, so here's a thought; in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Scott was taken by Victor when he was serving detention in school. He was obviously a teenager and those scenes of the film was set in 1975. But then, in X-Men: First Class, when Charles first used Cerebro, we saw a young Jean, Storm and Scott and all three looked to be around 10 years old, and that film was set in 1962. So, how can Scott be around 10 in First Class, but be a teenager in 1975 in Origins? That makes no sense? For Scott to be a teenager in 1975, he'd have to have been born in 1960, 1958-59 the earliest, which meant he'd be 5 years or under in 1962. But, the original X-Men films were set—if I'm correct—late '90s ('99 possibly) to about mid-2000s and adult Scott, Jean and Storm were in their thirties then that meant they would've been born around the late '60s ('68-'69) to mid-'70s. So there is no way it would be possible for them to even have a cameo appearance in First Class and Origins. For them to be in First Class, looking to be around 10, then Scott would have to be around 23-25 in Origins and they'd have to be in their 40s for the original films.

And also, in Origins, Wolverine's girlfriend Kayla has a sister and the sister can shift into a diamond form and supposedly it's Emma. But yet in First Class, Emma is a grown woman and her telepathy has already kicked in. So how can it be the same character if they are in different times? I mean, how is it possible that the Emma that is in Origins is the Emma from First Class when Origins again was set in 1975 and First Class was in '62? It makes no sense! Okay…rant over. Lol. Thanks for reading