Alright, so this chapter is more geared towards the science explanation of everything. Now of course I know my theory has some issues, but it's a fiction story, so no big deal.

Also, we finally see why Piotr is sleeping all the time! YAY!

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The Professor made his way into the lab to check on the research he had set the mutant doctor to doing. Dr. McCoy was sitting cross-legged on the floor, but jumped to his feet as soon as he saw the Professor. His faced showed a mix of excitement and confusion.

"Charles, I've found something." The large blue man raced towards his lab tables that were filled with vials, machines, and microscopes. It was obvious from the mess that the doctor had been busy.

"Hank, please explain. I am only getting strangled thoughts from your mind." The Professor rubbed his head. He tried to respect the privacy of his peers, but sometimes their thoughts were almost too loud.

"The kids, I… I can't explain it," Hank said. He was now running around the lab franticly trying to find something. "There's an anomaly in their brain functions and their blood streams." Out of breath, the man finally slid to a stop in front of one of the many microscopes.

"An anomaly?" Charles seemed to ponder this. Hank fidgeted with something on the microscope before motioning the Professor over.

"This is a sample of Piotr's genes. They are fully developed." Hank moved the microscope so the other man could see into it. Charles examined it. Having a degree in genetics and the like, knew exactly what he was looking at. Examining it for a few minutes, them man returns it to the resident genius.

"It seems you're correct. If these children were really just that, they would not have the genetics of their older selves. Are all the genetics the same?"

"No. I was comparing the two sets of genes for Rogue, and there is a difference. A huge one. Here," he said, retrieving two slides from the table, both with Rogue's name written on them. One was labeled 5 and the other 22.

After looking at both, the usually composed Professor took a sharp intake of breath. "Hank…"

"Yes, Charles, that's not a mistake of the slides. It may even be the reason that Rogue has had such a difficult time controlling her powers."

"Can we know for sure? I don't want to get the girl's hopes up. If this is what I think it is, it could mean huge leaps for her. Also, not just for her, but other mutants with uncontrollable powers." The paraplegic knew how big this was.

"I need to research it some more. It would be easier if we had the older version of Rogue as well as the younger to compare. Have you gotten anything from her brain functions?"

"They definitely differ from the Rogue we are used to, but now that I know what I am looking for it should be easier to find something helpful."

"Charles, how did this happen?" Hank stared at the man before him who was shaking his head.

"My only explanation is that by using that machine to 'boost' Jean's powers, it also partially grasped some of the Phoenix. That being said… with the Phoenix power it is not completely out of the question that it could reverse the body's aging process. I have seen research on it, though not always humane. It is a simple equation of separating certain cellular components as well as bone marrow, but that doesn't explain the children's minds. They all seem fully developed, yet there is still a child-like naïveté to them that would not be there had Jean just managed to alter their bodies."

"You don't think…" Hank had to sit down. It was not out of the question, but it was crazy.

"Hank, please continue."

"Charles, you don't think that Jean might have released… that she might have released a deeper psyche in all of them? A psyche that allows them to retrieve actions and beliefs of their childhood but that many had forgotten they had?"

They both sat and pondered the idea. It made sense. Wanda had latched onto her long-since pushed aside love for her brother. Rogue's psyche would not have carried all the trust issues as well as anger. Remy and Kurt would have, sadly, forgotten that there were such things as boundaries and rules, and Kitty would have latched onto her need for attention that she had quelled in the future.

"Charles, while I am starting to understand certain traits of the children now, if this theory is correct, what does that say about Piotr Rasputin's… shall we say sleep problem?"

"If we take this idea that each of the children is a reflection of a psyche, we must assume that Piotr's psyche is asleep. Scott mentioned something about a nightmare the child had. It could be that Piotr is only faintly connected to the psyche. I think I will try and talk with him tomorrow. It could be that during the original change his psyche was so deep in his mind that the change did not fully reach the psyche and so he is stuck somewhere between. It is a dangerous place to be, not having any personality or solid mental connection to anything."

Hank nodded and the two explored more ideas about the psyches for a while before they turned in for the night. It was late, and they both knew that tomorrow would be a big day between investigating the children more as well as the impending attack of the master of magnetism.