Author's note: I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated last. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I will try to update more regularly in the future. Enjoy!

Rachel couldn't believe it. Magneto was smiling at her. He wasn't furious with her for reading his mind or talking about him behind his back. He was admiring her for her power.

"You mean I'm not in trouble?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're not punishing me for reading your mind or telling Pyro what he wanted to know?"

"This isn't a school, Rachel. We don't punish anyone here. I discovered a long time ago it's useless to try to hide the details of my past from a telepath. And anyone who had good history classes in school could guess at those details upon seeing the tattoo on my arm."

Rachel nodded. She wanted to thank Magneto for not punishing her, but she couldn't think of a way of saying it that didn't sound stupid. Magneto interrupted her train of thought by continuing talking.

"Now I'm the curious one, Rachel."

"Curious?"

"Yes. The horrid events in my childhood do seem to create quite a bit of curiosity, but I've never known people to discuss that, or any other part of history for that matter, over breakfast. What led to you and Pyro discussing it?"

"Why does that matter?"

"As I just told you, I like to be in control of who knows about that chapter of my life. That's another lesson to learn, Rachel. You can learn to use your greatest weakness to your advantage. You pointed out you consider it a strength of mine that I survived the horrors of Auschwitz."

"It is. I don't care what you say. It is."

"Yes, well, that's kind of you. It seems many people agree with you."

"You said it yourself, there are definite ways in which you know we're right to say that. You became stronger."

"Yes, I did. But that's not even what I meant when I said you can use a weakness to your advantage. I show people the number tattooed on my arm and I let them pity me. I used to despise pity. I still do, but that doesn't mean I can't use it to my advantage. Pity, curiosity, and a certain respect tend to come to people's minds when I reveal I was a prisoner in the Nazis' camps. I can hold an audience captive and move their emotions by telling them of my past, even if, almost especially if, I leave out the details. It's better that way. I don't have to show how weak those memories still make me."

Rachel didn't know how to feel about this. Was everything he said just a manipulation technique? No. It couldn't be. She had read his mind. She had sensed his pain, if only just a fraction of it. She knew he honestly believed the things he told people. He genuinely believed something like the Holocaust could happen to mutants. Rachel herself knew something would happen to mutants if they didn't act, even if it weren't to that scale. Of course, Magneto was well-spoken and knew how to phrase things in a way that achieved results. She knew that. But could she accept working with a man who would manipulate people by using something so horrific? She knew the existence of the Brotherhood depended on Magneto's abilities as essentially a salesman, selling his idea rather than a product. But why use that method? Erik knew the question on her mind and continued talking to try to answer it.

"I know what you're thinking. How could I use something so terrible to my own advantage? I know it sounds horrible. But it's what I must do. I swore to myself that I would not let myself survive in vain. I would use my life for something good. So many lives were ended too soon. I felt unworthy of survival. I wondered why I was allowed to survive when so many people died. So many good people who had given the world something beautiful died. So many children died before being able to give the world anything. And yet I lived. I swore I would do something worthwhile with my survival. I would use it for something worthwhile. Now I have the chance to not only do something with my life, but also make sure no one in the camps died in vain. I can use the story of their deaths and memory of their lives to further my cause to ensure mutants will not suffer the same fate. It's the least I can do for them. So, while it may sound manipulative, and it fills me with pain and even disgust to do it, it is something I must do. Do you understand?"

Rachel took a moment to think. She scanned his mind to see if he was being honest, which he was.

"Yes."

"Good. Well, anyway, back to my original question. What led to you and Pyro discussing my past in Auschwitz?"

"We weren't really discussing anything. Just chatting and I slipped up. I just got a little annoyed. I guess that's kind of my weakness. I'm too sensitive."

"A common side effect of telepathy. At least you recognize it's a weakness."

"I guess. Anyway, Pyro was complaining about the cereal we keep here. I guess how much that irritates you rubbed off on me. I've been inside your mind and I've seen how bad the starvation was in Auschwitz, and it irritates me that other people don't know how lucky they are. It rubbed off on me from being in your mind or something."

Erik was silent for a moment. Rachel was right. That was something that bothered him. He knew it shouldn't. He knew that no one would understand what it had been like to suffer through those things unless they had also been there. He couldn't fault Pyro or anyone else for not knowing how fortunate they were to know nothing of starvation or the horrid choices he had been forced into in order to survive. In a way, though, it made him happy to realize most mutants had had such pleasant lives that they could complain about something as trivial as cereal.

"That's actually my goal for mutantkind: that no mutant should have to know suffering. That every mutant will have such easy lives that they will be able to take living without persecution, from a lower species no less, for granted. Do you understand that, Rachel?"

"Psyche. I decided last night. I'll go by Psyche now."

"Beautiful. How did you decide that?"

"Well, it seemed like a good name for a telepath. You like it?"

"Of course. But that wasn't what I meant. How did you decide to stop going by your human name?"

"Human name? Don't you call them slave names?"

"Only Mystique uses that term. My mother named me Erik, and I'm sure your mother named you Rachel."

"Then why does everyone here call each other by their mutant names? You even use the term 'real name' to refer to mutant names."

"Well, I believe we should be proud of who we really are. I know you are. And it's more than that. Most mutants, especially mutants who come here, want to separate themselves from their human identity. It's a reminder of who we really are. That said, if who you really are is Rachel, that's fine."

"Psyche, then. Who I really am is Psyche. I'm not a human. I'm a mutant. That's who I really am."

"As long as you're sure. Rachel is a beautiful name. There's no shame in keeping it. I will respect your wishes, of course. Psyche is a lovely name for a telepath, and you are such an exquisite creature, it would be wonderful to show that off to the world. To own it."