Early January, 1976.

When Erik heard loud noises and growls coming from the foyer, the last thing he was expecting to see was Hank was hanging upside down with his feet clutching the chandelier as he glared down over a man who only seemed to smile back at him. This man was dressed rather shabbily in faded blue jeans and a leather jacket over an open blue button up shirt and a vest top underneath.

As a school, the Xavier mansion housed many people, but it wasn't often that someone just turned up on their doorstep; they did need to keep a certain degree of privacy after all. This man had evidently done something to rattle Hank into using his full powers and that was no small feat.

"Who are you?" Erik asked aloud, raising an eyebrow at the man on the floor.

"I..." he began but he snapped his head around as one of the doors opened and Raven walked into the room. At first she was surprised to see this man standing there, but she'd gotten used to seeing strange things in her life, so she took it all in her stride and moved to stand beside Erik.

"Hank," Erik sighed, "Get off the chandelier."

"But he..." Hank frowned and, reluctantly, he did just that.

"Thank you," the man said sarcastically and got to his feet. "I apologise if I was a little forceful in entering but..."

"A little forceful?" Hank scoffed, ruffling his blue fur, "You kicked the door in on me."

"That's called property damage, you know," Raven crossed her arms.

"I didn't break it," the still nameless man shrugged, "But your guard wouldn't let me in."

"I'm a scientist," Hank frowned and the man gave an incredulous scoff.

"So, go on then, tell us who you are and why you kicked the door in," Erik said forcefully.

"Jaron Berkovich," the man said and rolled back his sleeve, holding up his arm to show the crude black numbers against his pale skin, "And this, I know, you understand."

"...Where?" Erik asked, glancing across at the familiarly placed markers and revealing his own.

"Bełżec," he answered, "And you?"

"Auschwitz."

"Hmm," Jaron nodded and righted his sleeve again. "A friend showed me your work from '54," he grinned, "Seventeen Nazi bastards all drowned in their own blood...Ja, it was beautiful."

"I assume you didn't come here to discuss dead Nazis."

"In part, yes. I came here to talk to you...and your professor. I've heard a lot about him too," he grinned, "A strong telepath they say. I should very much like to meet him before I go. Where is he?"

"None of your business," Hank said.

"Not here, eh?" Jaron inferred with a frown, "If he was he should know I was here by now, surely...oh, that is disappointing."

"You're a mutant?" Raven questioned, moving the subject away from her brother.

"I am," he nodded, "You want to know what it is I can do? I was shot at by twenty death squads in the same month...nothing," he shrugged. "I was burned alive in the crematorium. I was gassed in the showers and I was mauled by their most vicious dogs...and I am still here."

"You can't die?" Erik frowned.

"Better...I can't be killed and whatever happens to me I can project onto another person. So...they attack me; they kill themselves," he chuckled.

"Why are you here?" Erik asked him, clearly not amused.

"What?" Jaron stopped laughing, "You don't think it's funny?" he asked but he didn't get an answer so he continued. "Hmm...well then, I am here because of you, actually. I want you to do the only thing that people like us are good for; killing the bastards who made us."

"You want to recruit me?" Erik scoffed.

"Naturally...There are many people like us out there looking for vengeance and we should work together...Or have you forgotten what they did to us? They treated us worse than animals. They slaughtered us..."

"I can never forget," Erik ground out.

"Then join us, help us..."

"I'm sorry, but you're a few decades too late."

"They're still out there and everyone else has forgotten or they want to forget so they let them be. That's not good enough."

"No, it isn't," Erik agreed, "But I have a cause to fight for here. I've done more than my fair share of Nazi hunting."

"You are sure?" Jaron asked and Erik nodded. "...So...I came here expecting to find a warrior for our people and instead I find a coward," he spat.

"A coward," Erik repeated, enraged.

"A coward," Jaron nodded gravely, "Hiding away in a school."

"I think you should leave," Raven said, noting the furious glint in Erik's eyes and the balling of his hands into fists at his sides.

"I don't think so. This is a very nice place...I think I'd like to stay for a while."

"She told you to leave, now leave," Hank growled.

"Make me."

"My pleasure," Erik muttered and stormed over to him. He grabbed the front of Jaron's jacket and forced him back against the nearest wall. But the second that his back collided with the wall, Erik saw the wince on the mutants' face for only a second before his pain faded. Erik felt the pain that Jaron should have been feeling and it was then that he remembered just what this man's power was. It seemed that his ability extended to all pain that was inflicted on him, not just injuries bad enough to murder. This, Erik knew, would make things very, very difficult, if not impossible.

"You see now?" Jaron smiled.

"You still feel pain," Erik stated.

"Not for long."

"We'll see," the German hissed and preceded to punch him in the face with enough force to throw him to the floor. Blood seeped from Jaron's lip and he looked up but before he even wiped the blood off, the cut sealed itself and vanished completely, only to reappear on Erik's lip.

Erik's eyes widened as the pain from his own attack hit him. Jaron jumped to his feet and pushed Erik backward against the wall, just as he had done to him.

"Attack me all you like. You can't hurt me," Jaron said with confidence. "But I can hurt you," he added cruelly, "And if you're not with me...you're against me." He then hit Erik in the stomach and tossed him to the floor.

Hank barrelled across at Jaron and held him back from Erik, trying not cause the mutant any pain which he knew would only reflect back on him. Before he could even speak through, Erik was back on his feet and, using the metal in Jaron's clothes, he threw him across the room. Jaron landed hard on the floor and once again, all the impact was felt by Erik. He fell to his knees from the shock alone.

"Erik, stop," Raven cried, running over to him and placing a calming hand on his shoulder, "This won't achieve anything."

"It's the violence, he can't help it," Jaron laughed. "If nothing else I can show him who he really is," he said, turning to Erik. "You won't come with me, fine. But at least acknowledge that people like us can never be at peace; deep down you know it as well as I do. You are no teacher. You are a creature of war, just like me. We are what they made us into."

"I am whoever I say I am. They don't rule my life, not anymore," Erik ground out.

"Yes, they do, and you know why? Because you lie even to yourself."

"...Get out," the German shook his head in disgust.

"You know I'm telling the truth...you wouldn't be so angry with me if you didn't. You don't want to hear it because you can't deny..."

"I said, get out," Erik reiterated.

"You know, I could stay here an there's nothing you could do about it," Jaron replied smugly. "But since you're not going to help me, there wouldn't be much point," he shrugged. "I've no doubt I'll see you again someday...Maybe then you'll change your mind."

"I wouldn't count on it," Erik replied coldly.

"Hmm...we'll see," the mutant said before walking out the door.

"Good riddance," Raven muttered, rushing to close and lock the door behind him.

"No one tells Charles about this," Erik said sternly before they could say anything else.

"You really should know by now that you can't keep secrets from a telepath," Hank replied.

"...Right," Erik sighed dejectedly and scrubbed a hand through his hair before he walked off, his muscles sore, leaving Hank and Raven staring after him.

A few days later when Charles returned it wasn't long before he found himself walking through the doors to Erik's study and seated himself before the fire, opposite his friend.

"I hear you had a visitor while I was away," Charles remarked as Erik stood and poured two drinks for them.

"Yes, he wasn't very polite," Erik shrugged, "I sent him on his way."

"Hmm," the telepath hummed, "His ability was interesting, to say the least."

"It was...more infuriating than interesting."

"Hank was right, you know...it really is difficult to hide things from people like me, and not always because I want it to be that way."

"I know."

"It's been on your mind since it happened...I can't block you out when you're this pensive."

"I've done terrible things...but you know as well as I do that I don't regret half of them. The people...the Nazis I killed would never have received the punishments they deserved in a court of law. The things they did weren't done within the law. Sometimes it isn't sufficient."

"You've moved on since then, he hasn't," Charles said.

"Have I?" Erik scoffed. "...I was...part of me wanted to go with him...I wanted..."

"But you didn't."

"Charles," Erik began, lowering his head. "I am everything he said I am. Maybe I was wrong..."

"You weren't wrong. What they did to you was unforgivable but you are your own person. You proved that when you came back and you proved it again by making your own choice."

"...Why do you always know what to say?" Erik asked after a minute.

"Because I know you," Charles replied.

"And you still want to," the German shook his head, incredulously. His hand subconsciously made its way to cover the tattooed numbers under his sleeve on his other arm and his fingers tightened around his skin. "He was right about something else though," he said slowly, "He'll probably come back."

"Maybe," Charles shrugged elegantly, "But not for a while. He's on a mission of vengeance, remember. Those things take time."

"Yeah," Erik murmured, "They do."

A.N. Just in case anyone is interested, Jaron is an OC.