First off, I want to tell you guys that you are all the most amazing people on the face of the planet and I love you all so very, very much for all of the support you have given me. It's incredible, not only just in this story, but in all of my other recent works as well. So, thank you. I am very, very lucky for that.

Secondly, as thecatclouder pointed out in their review and as I said once a million and one chapters ago, I was originally planning on linking up this story with the movies. And I did, sort of in this chapter. I don't want to give too much away, because I only just begin to go into that in this chapter and will touch on it at length in the next chapter, but I do have an explanation for everything. So. Here's the beginning part of it.

Oh, and the end of this chapter is for TheAngelofFate. I hope this is what you're looking for. : ).

I hope you all enjoy this chapter; I have had this one planned for quite some time now, and I think it turned out mostly the way I wanted. So. Have fun.

The Perks of Being a Telepath

Chapter 57: A Glimpse of the Future

Raven was surprised that it took the better part of a month for there to be a knock at her hotel room door.

"Honestly, Charles, I was expecting you ages ago."

She pulled open the door, her mouth falling open in shock as she realized that it wasn't Charles on the other side of the door.

Erik smiled slightly. It wasn't a happy expression.

"Hello, Raven. Or should I say Mystique?"

Raven scowled.

"What are you doing here, Erik?"

"Is that any way to greet a friend?"

"Did Charles send you?"

"No."

The shape shifter knew Erik well enough to know when he was lying. Her scowl deepened.

"I'm not interested in peace, Erik. You of all people should know that."

"I'm not here for peace, Raven. I want to stop Azazel and Angel just as much as you do."

This was even more surprising.

"I'm surprised Charles let you of all people come, given your reputation."

Erik's smile turned feral. It was all teeth, and one that sent shivers down Raven's spine.

"As you know, I can be very persuasive."

Raven opened the door all the way.

"Come in."

Sapphire blue waves crashed against the sandy white beach, as beautiful and as pristine as the last time Erik had visited.

Well, truth be told, it was even better now that there wasn't a giant submarine crashed into the side of the beach, and there weren't a dozen naval warships in the water beyond the beach. Of course, that had all been almost thirty years ago, now. And the beach wasn't the only thing that had changed since then, either.

Erik closed his eyes, his mind drifting away from the beach and to the last place he had visited: Charles' grave.

It was a disgustingly large gravestone, placed beside Alex's and all the others' they had lost over the years. It wasn't what Charles would have wanted at all, despite his rather grandiose lifestyle.

The internal movie changed scenes to the telepath's last moments, getting ripped apart by Jean Grey. It was only the latest and last in a long line of times Charles had been hurt on account of Erik's brash actions.

A piece of metal caught his attention, shining in the sun. It was old, perhaps twenty or thirty years by the amount of rust that had been built up.

Erik reached and picked it up out of habit. It was as though the universe was desperate to play a cruel trick on him. He would recognize that scrap of metal anywhere.

It was the bullet he had once pulled out of Charles' spine.

Erik sank to his knees, burying his head in his hands with the bullet pressing up against his temple. It was as though a switch had been flipped in his mind, and suddenly, all of the grief he had been repressing for the past thirty years could be felt. It tore at his mind and at his heart, ripping him to shreds.

His breathing was ragged and he made no attempts to try to get himself under control as flashes of the past took control of his mind. Charles' scream of pain as the bullet connected with his spine, sending them down this spiraling path of despair. Raven—Mystique —turning from the young, naïve girl Erik had fallen for to a ruthless killer. A girl with hair colored like a skunk, crying out as Erik tried to force human kind to be mutants instead. Jean Grey, losing control of her powers completely, and almost destroying the entire world.

A harsh sob tore its way out of Erik's throat as he realized just how completely he had failed. All Charles had ever done was try to see the good in Erik, and the metal bender had ignored it completely, to the point where Charles had died.

"I'm sorry, Charles. I am so sorry, old friend. I never meant to cause any of this."

All he had wanted was safety for his mutant brothers and sisters, and instead, he had caused the death of one of the greatest men and mutants the world had ever known.

And the worst part about it was up until that moment, Erik hadn't cared.

He hated himself, in that moment. More than he had ever hated Shaw or Stryker or any of the countless others that had done wrong, for they hadn't done what Erik had. They hadn't killed Charles, the one chance the mutants had for peace.

It would be all too easy, Erik knew, to use that remaining scrap of bullet and drive it through his temple. He would never hurt anyone, ever again, and perhaps the mutants would have a fighting chance at peace after all.

If only his powers worked. But that had been another cruel twist of fate, with the humans shooting him with a plastic bullet loaded with the 'cure' they had found.

And now, all Erik could do was clench the crushed metal to his chest and reflect on how utterly he had failed the people he cared most about.

A tear slid down his face as he once more squeezed his eyes shut. He made no move to wipe it away.

There was a warm breeze, followed by a gentle pressure on his shoulder.

Erik froze, automatically reaching out with his powers, only to remember once more with painful clarity that he no longer had them.

He opened his eyes and looked up, stunned by who he saw in front of him.

It was Charles.

Only, it wasn't the Charles as Erik had remembered him in the last few years. No, this was Charles when Erik had first met him; young, vibrating with energy, hope, and heart. He had his hair, cut in the same boyish manner it had been during Cuba, with his blue eyes sparkling with compassion, and a sad smile quirking his lips.

"Erik."

Erik stumbled to his feet, not believing his eyes. This had to be some sort of dream, a hallucination perhaps. Maybe he had died.

Though, he reflected darkly, if he had died, he highly doubted he would have been let into heaven after everything he had done.

"Charles?"

The telepath nodded.

"Hello, old friend."

Erik stared, dumbstruck.

"Wh…how are you here? Forgive me, my friend, but you died."

Charles' smile, if possible, grew sadder.

"Yes. I did."

"Am I….?"

"Dead? Oh, heavens no. You, Erik, are very much alive."

"Then why are you here? How are you here?"

"The how is not important. What matters is why."

He fell silent for a minute, his gaze drifting off to the ocean.

Erik internally sighed when it became obvious that his friend wasn't going to continue.

"Why are you here?"

The telepath looked back at him.

"You are blaming yourself for things that were beyond your control. And that path is only going to lead to more pain, more suffering."

"How could I ever possibly suffer more than I am already?"

That came out far more depressing than Erik intended, but it was the truth. He had lost everyone he had ever cared about in his life, by his own hands more or less, and now he was completely alone.

Charles, unsurprisingly, heard that thought.

"You're not alone, Erik. You are not alone."

"Take a look around you, Charles. You're dead and the humans have taken from me everything I've remotely cared about."

He meant his powers, though upon further thought, Erik decided that Mystique might as well be lumped into that category, too. While he wasn't sure if he outright cared about her—he really hadn't cared about anything other than revenge for a long time—she had stuck by him without fail for decades.

And now, just like him, she was completely powerless, because of him.

Charles sighed.

"What happened to me was not your fault. No, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. I thought that I could handle Jean, that I could save her. My arrogance was my downfall. Not you."

"I pushed you into it."

"My friend, when have you ever been able to push me into doing something I don't remotely want to do?"

Erik opened his mouth to respond, but then snapped it shut as he realized that Charles was right. There was nothing on this planet that could make the telepath do something he didn't want to do. He was singularly stubborn like that.

"You're dead, Charles."

"I'm quite aware of that, Erik."

"But you're here."

"Do you think that I would have stopped believing in you, even after I died?"

The metal bender swallowed hard and looked away, unable to face the undeserved loyalty and pride that he had somehow always had from Charles and never once really cared about until now.

"Charles…"

"Erik. You haven't lost everything. Not really."

"My powers are gone. The humans took them."

"Did they?"

Erik looked back, confused. Charles was smiling at him again, only this time, it was more mischievous than sad.

"I haven't been able to access them since…."

That wasn't entirely true. There had been that one chess game after the battle in San Francisco, where he might have felt something stirring within him. But Erik had written off to his imagination, for it hadn't happened since.

Charles looked stubbornly proud of himself.

"Your powers have never abandoned you, Erik. The humans… they thought they figured out the key to blocking mutations, but they didn't. It's a placebo effect."

Erik thought of Rouge and Mystique and wondered how that could possibly be true.

Charles was still talking.

"Erik. Your powers are still there. You've locked them away, deep inside, but they're still there. You just have to open your eyes."

"My eyes are open, Charles."

The telepath shook his head.

"No, they're not. Open your eyes, Erik."

Erik closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again, the beach was gone. In its stead was the backdrop of the smoking remains of a building with a frantic, very much alive Charles leaning over him. His hair was plastered to his head by the driving rain, blood was pouring out of his nose and from a gash in his forehead, his face was chalk white, and his blue eyes were huge with terror.

"God damn it, Erik, open your eyes!"

Erik blinked, shocked when the scene remained the same.

"C-Charles?"

Good god, was that his voice?

Charles looked like he was about ready to pass out from relief.

"Erik!"

Before Erik really knew what was happening, the telepath was throwing his arms around him in a fierce hug. The metal bender sat stock still for a moment, entirely unable to move, before realizing that all of those horrific sights in the forefront of his mind had been a dream.

Charles was here. Charles was very much alive. And none of the terrible events had happened.

Charles was alive.

The thought ran on repeat in his mind and before Erik was ever fully conscious of making the decision to move, he was putting his arms around Charles and returning the hug just as fiercely.

If either of them were shaking violently from the sheer onslaught of their emotions, neither one of them said anything about it.

Charles was babbling, almost incoherently in Erik's ear—something about how he thought he had lost the metal bender for good and how he was very glad that Onslaught was in the process of murdering Cain—and while most of that was vaguely terrifying and would be addressed at a later date, all Erik could think about was just how fucking glad he was that none of that dream had been true. If there was a tear that made its way down his face, then Erik would later blame it on the rain.

He made a silent promise to himself that he was never going to leave Charles' side ever again.