Suddenly sensing the conflict that now erupted in Charles' soul at his words, Erik stepped forward, passing the telepath and moving ahead of him toward the mahogany bar.

"Here, allow me…" he said in a low voice as he made quick pace and rounded himself behind the bar before Charles even rolled up to it.

The telepath opened his mouth to speak, but to his surprise, Erik took the words right out of it when he asked, "Your usual? Scotch neat?"

"Yes…" Charles nodded with a confused smirk as his chair stopped a few feet from the bar, "You... remember that?"

"I remember everything…" Erik immediately replied, looking up and meeting Charles's eyes for a brief moment, his breath suddenly hitching when he felt the palpable connection ignite between them again. He then quickly looked away as he shrugged off his brown leather jacket and tossed it on a nearby chair, rolling up his shirt sleeves as he began rummaging through the liquor stock under the overhang and trying desperately to come up with a way to brush off what he just said.

Finally, he did.

"And it's the simplest drink known to man and takes barely any effort to make, Charles, so of course I'd remember it," he continued, nonchalantly, grabbing a bottle of single malt scotch and after a moment's thought, bent down to retrieve a tumbler from the cabinet under the counter.

When it was placed gently next to scotch, he picked up the bottle and unscrewed the lid.

"I'm glad to see that you got the school back up and running…" Erik said, pouring the scotch into the glass

"Truth be told, I missed it. I never really knew how much until it was gone…and then when those first students walked through the doors six months ago…" Charles smiled to himself, the memory fresh in his mind, "But, it was really a joint effort. I can't take all the credit. It wouldn't have been possible without Hank, especially since I'm still trying to get myself back to normal—"

"Are you unwell?" Erik immediately interjected, setting the bottle down on the counter harder than he meant to as he looked up again

Charles startled at the noise, but kept a steady gaze on the metal bender as their eyes locked, seemingly surprised by Erik's reaction.

"No…it's just that the injections I had been taking so that I could walk…they were basically a medicinally enhanced form of amphetamines…." Charles said, trailing off, unsure how to put into words what he was trying to say.

Truthfully, he was an addict.

The stabilizers he had been for years to block the voices and give him the use of his legs had reeked havoc on his mind and body, so much so that when he gave up the injections and returned to his wheelchair and allowed his powers to come back, he found that he couldn't function properly-there were days when he would go without sleeping and it was hard for him to eat or even focus on his work.

It was something he was still struggling with everyday.

"So are you saying that you've been 'Turning on', Charles?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow before leaning down again to reach under the bar, this time opening a chest cooler and retrieving a beer from under the fresh ice.

He couldn't help but give a small smile when he found that Charles still kept his favorite brand.

"I suppose you could say that I have," Charles replied seriously, "If the withdrawal side effects that I've been experiencing are any indication—"

Erik closed his eyes in shame at Charles words, then closed the cooler and rose up again, placing the bottle of beer on the counter next to the glass of scotch.

"I'm sorry…" Erik lamented, "I shouldn't have said that—"

"It's alright," Charles instantly replied with an empathetic smile, raising a stern hand to silence the metal bender, "Truly. Let's forget it."

To this Erik, gave a nod, not wanting to make Charles more uncomfortable by offering more platitudes or continuing the subject on which he didn't seem to want to expand further.

"Bottle opener?" Erik inquired, shifting his gaze and trying to find something else to talk about

"In the third drawer on the left…" Charles pointed out, then turned and exhaled a breath as he rolled back toward the fire now glowing in the fireplace.

Erik watched him move past out of the corner of his eye, then looked down to the left side of the bar and pulled open the third drawer, retrieving the bottle opener before shutting it again.

"How is Raven?" Charles suddenly asked as he came face to face with the flames in the fire

Erik sighed as he popped off the top of his beer then tossed the opener on the counter and crushed the metal top to bits in the palm of his hand in frustration.

Well, that was quick.

Erik was sure that Charles would have danced around the subject of his sister for at least another uncomfortable hour.

But, the metal bender was all for ripping off the band aid in one fail swoop instead of peeling it of slowly and watching each hair pull up with the adhesive. Yep...Better to just get it over with.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, throwing the metal dust into the air, then picking up the drinks in his hands, walked over toward Charles, "She recently disappeared again on one of her little crusades. She calls in every now and again, but otherwise, she prefers to be and work alone."

"How ironic…" Charles scoffed, still looking into the flames, "That the one person that you wanted to go with you, turns out to be the one person that you can't seem to keep with you."

"She wasn't the person I wanted to go with me…" Eric quickly retorted, suddenly appearing in front of Charles, breaking his concentration and bringing the telepath's eyes toward him as he now held the scotch out to him and immediately tried to recover himself, "Besides, I think she isolates herself because she misses you. Leaving you upset her more than you could ever know—especially after she found out what really happened to you on the beach in Cuba."

Charles narrowed his brow as he absorbed the metal bender's words, then tentatively reached out and took his drink, his eyes suddenly shifting down to Erik's right wrist above where he held the tumbler.

It looked like a tattoo –a very strong, black X that was engraved in black on Erik's forearm.

Charles would most likely never seen it had Erik's shirt sleeve not been rolled up.

The telepath tried to ignore the clenching feeling in his heart and the fire that ignited in his soul at the thought that the "X" might have something to do with him and their past, and instead took in an unsteady breath as he nodded his appreciation to the metal bender for his drink, then took the tumbler in hand then brought it up toward his lips.

"To memories…past and present…good and bad..." Erik suddenly said raising his beer bottle in a small toast, causing Charles to pause and pull the drink back before he could actually take a sip, "And going another successful year without killing one another. I have a feeling there will be many more to come."

"Cheers," Charles smirked as he held out his glass and clinked it softly with Erik's beer bottle before the two men took their first respective drink, eyeing each other as they did.

Charles downed his tumbler in one gulp, keeping his eyes locked with Erik as he lowered his glass and the metal bender pulled the bottle from his lips after another thoughtful sip.

"Another?" Erik asked, quirking an eyebrow and motioning toward Charles' empty glass

"God, yes…" Charles sighed and held out the glass for Erik to take, which he did, taking another swig of his beer as he walked past Charles back to the bar.

After a few moments of silence, Charles closed his eyes and decided to speak up, against his better judgement, about what he had seen on Erik's arm.

If he was reading more into it than there was...fine.

But, if there was even the slightest chance that it had something to do with the telepath or their past friendship or...well, anything they had shared together, he was willing to take it.

Even after all that had happened over the past ten years...

All the rights and wrongs...

All the fights and confrontations...

All the times when they had abandoned each other, turned on each other and pushed each other away...

If there was even the slightest hope that Erik was still in there-inside that "Magneto" persona, Charles was going to take it.

He had to.

He owed it to himself and he owed it to Erik Lensherr...

The real Erik Lensherr.

With this in mind, Charles now slowly turned his wheelchair back to face the bar, watching as Erik screwed off the top of the scotch bottle again and poured Charles' drink.

"Erik…" Charles started, unsure if he really should bring up what he was about to, but his heart encouraged him, though his mind screamed 'No! Stop!'

"Mhmm?…" Erik answered concentrating on his drink pouring then screwing the lid back on

"The tattoo on your right forearm…" Charles said, "That one is not from a Nazi Internment Camp."

Erik stopped for a moment and closed his eyes as he replaced the bottle of scotch onto the counter and took a swig from his beer on the top of the bar before he replied, "No, Charles, it's not. I got it not long after I was released from prison and it has much happier memories attached to it that the tattoo on my left arm."

"It's a rather simple design," Charles observed and Erik scoffed with a smirk as he picked up the tumbler with Charles' re-freshened drink and crossed the room with it in one hand and his beer in the other.

"Yes," Erik agreed, looking down to it with a small smile as he handed Charles his drink with that arm, then looked up to meet the telepath's eyes, "To represent a very simple idea—a simple truth—the only thing that has had true meaning in my life. A truth I still live by."

"And that is?" Charles prompted as he gently took the drink from Erik's hand

"Why don't you read my mind and find out?" Erik challenged good naturedly, taking another swig from his beer bottle, his steel blue eyes dancing

Charles opened his mouth to answer, then hesitated.

"Oh, come on, Charles!" Erik urged, cocking his head, "You made the promise not to read or control my mind a decade ago and you've done both within the past year—so you've already broken that promise. Now, I don't have my helmet…there is no need to stand on ceremony…" he then gracefully bend down on one knee, setting his beer bottle on the floor next to him as he came eye level with the telepath and again urged in a softer tone, "Do it. Please…I want you to see."

Charles studied him for a moment, then took a sip from his tumbler and set it down in his lap as he raised his right hand to his temple and focused his gaze on Erik, allowing his eyes to flutter shut.

Suddenly, Erik felt a presence at the back of his mind and closed his own eyes as well, willing the memory he wanted Charles to see to come forward.

It was the day that they stood out on the back veranda of the very mansion they were now in.

The day that Charles had accessed and brought forth the memory of Erik with his mother on Hanukkah many years earlier…

Then it flashed to Charles standing before Erik with tear stained eyes and Charles voice echoing in Erik's mind, "I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity."

Then with a jolt, Erik felt Charles' mind separate from his and he opened his eyes to behold Charles sitting before him.

And like his memory from ten years earlier, the telepath now had tears in his eyes as he looked down again to the X emblazoned on Erik's forearm and gave a small, sad, smile.