I know I've said all this too many times, but I truly am so monumentally sorry about all the hiatuses in my writing. When RL did allow me the time to fic, my brain was more often just a blank void. Finally got all inspired by DoFP and managed to get a whole bunch of soon-to-come scenes written, but then my mind turned into mush again after watching the season finale of Hannibal….

Slow progress in terms of time in this chapter, but I think it reads better as it's own chapter, hopefully you'll feel I've advanced the plot somewhat.

Kept going back and forth on how old I should set the twins… And I think I may have taken the easy way out, but the plot I had originally planned really does not sit with how I've developed Erik. Took a whole lotta canon liberties with a few scenes in this chapter, hope it's believable.

Still undecided whether I want to attempt to make this story flow into DoFP so we'll see how things go. Do let me know if you have a preference though :)

Again, thank you all for the continued patience, understanding and encouragement! You're the reason I haven't just deleted this whole account.

Snapshot to come asap. I'm running low on ideas, feel free to give me any.

Warning: Character deaths

"...whether we continue to work together is now up to you. But I want an answer by the end of the week."

Emma knew well her words would spur Erik into action. She was fairly certain the man is saying goodbye to Charles this very moment, perhaps even making his a case for the young telepath to support his cause. As much as Erik seemed to have settled into Westchester, the man still has too much rage within him, and as long as it is there, Erik would never be able to settle and find peace. Though on further thought, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if Erik remained here to assert a stronger influence over the younger and more impressionable.

However, if Emma was to be fully honest with herself, it was she who needed to get away from the mansion the most. Scott's words to her during his confrontation about Warren left scratches on her solid, frozen wall of defences. A wall she thought she perfected well before she met Sebastian Shaw.

Scott's subtle, and deeply hidden crush on her could so easily be molded into a weapon to use at her discretion. Yet, she finds herself unwilling to use this against the young man, and therefore the others who are deeply connected to him.

And that right there was the problem she needed to get away from before more cracks appear on her walls.

Angel has been pacing in her room for the good part of the day. She's packed, unpacked and repacked all over again her belongings she's accumulated at the mansion without even realizing. After what must have been the fifth round of packing, she finally makes up her mind and purposefully zips her largest duffle bag shut.

She knew that she was taking the coward's way out, but she made her choice that day when Shaw attacked the CIA compound. It's not as if Darwin coming back to life should change anything for her. She had made the choice to leave before he tried to act like a hero. Even if he hadn't 'died' that day, she still would have chosen to leave with Shaw.

Right?

Darwin, of anyone, understands the brutal nature of survival. It's a dirty game, and there is no room for weakness or guilt.

It wasn't as if though the mansion was a permanent arrangement anyway. She'd always known one day soon, they would leave this place behind. She had no place here, not even after Alex had made a meek attempt at showing concern for her still-not fully recovered wing.

There's no need to make it an event and say good bye to them.

Right?

"Good. You're packed. We're leaving in an hour."

Angel managed to swallow down the yelp of surprise from Emma's sudden appearance at her door. She doesn't manage to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Really? All of us? Even Raven? Erik?"

"I've already alerted Raven, she has an hour to decide."

"...and Erik?"

If Angel wasn't looking out for it, she would have completely missed Emma's minute tensing of her features, a sign of uncertainty.

"He's out with Charles. If everything is as I predict, he'll be back in time to leave with us… But on the off chance he decides to stay, it could still prove to be for our benefit. All the students he could recruit for us here."

"Then why leave at all? Why not make this our base?"

"That's not going to sit well with the trio, but it's a plan we can use at a later date. Seeds take time and patience to come to fruition after all."

Sean woke up too early that morning with a tight sourness in his gut. He tried going back to sleep, only to wake every few minutes and sighing at the clock. That pang only worsened when he heard that Erik had asked for Charles to head out with him alone, and the latter agreed. His suspicions were confirmed when Janos took him aside and thanked him for sharing a few of his cooking recipes and tips, having bonded a good deal over their shared time in the kitchen. Sean didn't need to see the packed luggages to know the mansion will be empty of half it's residents before sun down.

So he wasn't all that surprised when Charles walks almost lifelessly across the threshold of the front door, face drained of colour. He wasn't surprised either at Erik's solemn expression, but the level of shock, doubt and despair was much more than Sean anticipated.

No, what surprised the hell out of Sean and everyone else in the foyer when Charles and Erik returned was the slew of cursing that came out of Emma Frost's mouth.

Emma Frost is not one prone to fiery fury. Her anger seeps cold and blistering.

But right at this very instance in time, she feels a blazing anger she didn't know she had within her.

It was all going better than she could have planned. Erik was going to work his magic against an emotionally vulnerable adolescent Charles, whether the elder intended or not. Charles, no matter when he recovers his full memories would be too attached to Erik and the rest of them to be able to take any real action against them, and his propensity for forgiveness would eventually work in their favour and unite them all together. They were finally going to come out of the shadows, fully start the inevitable war, and show the world once and for all the next step in evolution.

However, the images she pried from a momentary mentally exposed Charles puts everything in jeopardy. It's not so much the appearance of Erik's long lost wife that infuriates her, but the look of turmoil and self doubt on Erik's face directed at that human. The telepath can't fathom why she is still alive. Sebastian had made a show of killing that woman. Used that fact to taunt, torture and fully break Erik all over again.

Like hell was Emma going to let some human from Erik's past potentially destroy all of their hard work.

~x~

"I need you to take me somewhere."

Azazel, who had been holed up in Charles' library, savoring what might be his last moments with this impressive collection of records and books, is on his feet immediately, a hand offered out to grasp.

As they disappear into black smoke, he can't help a wistful glance back at a lifestyle he cannot choose for himself.

~x~

Emma mentally freezes the human's mind before the human sensed that a demonic-looking being burst into her tiny, mildew covered room hand in hand with a scantily clad woman with a penchant for luxuriously made white lingerie. She will allow the fear and terror to slowly and painfully trickle in, magnified two fold, when the three of them are alone and no one can come to her rescue.

As a precaution, because Emma is nothing if not cautious, she takes a thorough look into the human's memories to find out exactly why Shaw has left her alive. A barely there, astounded gasp manages to slip from Emma's lips when she sees it.

Twins.

Adopted by the Maximoffs, whom Magda Eisenhardt is currently under the employ of as a housemaid, and the sponsors of her green card.

Erik's.

Emma now understood why Shaw had let the human live, if only to let her give birth to X-gene carriers, however, she cannot see yet whether the twins are mutant or not, and before that comes to light, the twins will only hold Erik back. He cannot find out about them. Not right now. Not until their existence proves to be able to further fuel Erik's determination.

The telepath reins in her anger, molds it into mental persuasion, and releases it into the human's mental stream. When the time comes, all she has to do is to show the human the truth about the father of her children.

Call Max. Arrange a meeting. Tell him you have something very important to show him.

Kurt died a little over a year after Sharon.

With complete access to all the wealth of the Xavier estate, Kurt focused on finishing the construction of the vast underground bunker beneath the mansion, more than convinced that nuclear war was imminent. After that, Charles had expected his step-father to begin frivolous spending on an opulent lifestyle, but that never came. All larger expenses were discussed with Charles fully, his opinion weighing heavily on Kurt's decisions, and more often than not, it was expenses for further scientific research, which Charles was fascinated with also. Spending on luxurious personal goods never spiraled upwards, and it seemed as if Kurt was only doing so to maintain an expected image.

Charles couldn't help but constantly wait for the other shoe to drop. However, at the same time, his mind would often ask one crucial question, what had Kurt really taken away from him? By now, he was old enough to see that his own father had used him. Experimented him and allowed others to do as well. Sharon's distant demeanor and drinking started long before Kurt came into their lives. So why can't he get over his hatred of the man?

The fire came about a month after Charles told the Marko's his admittance into Oxford University. He wasn't expecting Kurt's utterly proud reaction, giving the young man a warm hug and letting him have his first taste of a Cuban cigar. It was perhaps the first time he felt he could come to see Kurt as his family, that he would want to make this man proud.

"Kurt! Stay with me! An ambulance is on it's way! Keep your eyes open! No no! Don't fall asleep!"

There was a look in Kurt's eyes that said he knew he was fading. The man had severe burns all along the left side of his face and body, and having gone back into the burning mansion to save Charles and Raven, the carbon monoxide he had inhaled was slowly shutting down his insides. The dying man's eyes flickered to something behind Charles, and what he saw only caused Kurt's face to twitch in pain. He grabbed tightly onto Charles' shirt and pulled him close.

"B-beware of C-Cain…"

Charles didn't tell anyone what Kurt Marko's final words were, but he had a feeling Cain knew nonetheless.

Two weeks after a small intimate funeral, Charles had packed his and Raven's bags and took their first class seats to England, where he was to begin his studies at Oxford on early admission. He had left instructions to his trustees and lawyers to give a generous inheritance to Cain, and save no expense at restoring Westchester to its former glory.

~x~

Charles looked blankly out at the acres upon acres of lush green grass that made up the mansion's back yard. Knowing now what will become of his step brother, Charles regrets not working harder on their sibling relationship. Regrets not putting in more effort to treat the Markos as family.

He looks back into the room, seeing nothing but impeding emptiness. He can't mess up his second chance at keeping his family together. He'll beg Erik and the others to stay when the man returns from meeting with his wife.

It takes all his will to ignore the dire thought that Erik might not even choose to return after the meeting at all.

"It's good to see you again, Max… I've missed you so much. I-I thought I had lost you all those years ago. He told me you had… that you were gone."

Magda had clearly made an effort with her appearance today, donning a rich purple dress that complemented her freshly washed auburn curls, let loose flowing down to her shoulders and catching the light with a subtle shine.

Their interaction is stilted and wary, made even more awkward when Magda lifted her arms for an embrace, only for Erik to go rigid and look away. Erik's mental and emotional state is currently in a numb void, his whole world having been turned on its axis. It had been so easy to direct his anger and pain at humanity after he killed Shaw. But that was only because he believe he had lost all of his humanity that horrendous when Shaw's men had found his and Magda's hideout, and set it ablaze.

"...I was told the same thing about you. I thought I had lost everything."

The mutant feels his resolve crumble just that little bit when he sees tears running down the face of the woman he loved. But he can't allow himself to be weakened. The last time Erik did so, he thought he'd lost her.

"You said you have something you wanted to show me."

"Yes! They're-"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a dozen armed men ambushed the duo, firing off round after round of ammunition. Of course Erik has the attackers dealt with bloodily before he even reprimands himself for lowering his guard and not picking up the trace of metallic weaponry in the vicinity.

"Are you hurt?"

The woman's legs shook with terror as she tried to back further into the wall, further away from the man who massacred a squad of men with a single raised hand. He didn't even need to look in their direction to be able to drive sharp pieces of metal through their bodies.

"Y-you're one of them! One o-of those things! !"

Magda owed it to their shared history that Erik did not send a nearby metal pipe straight through her heart before she finished her outburst.

"Magda, listen-"

"Stay away from me you freak! ! Get away get away GET AWAY! ! !"

A distinct and haunting hum of metal grew louder and louder as Magda continued to scream.

"You're not the man I loved. You're a monster, just like him! ! You stay away from me! Stay away from us! ! !"

And in that moment, Erik knew he doesn't have a choice. Charles, the school, peace… it has and will never ever be an option.

"That's right. I'm no longer Max Eisenhardt. I am Magneto. And the only reason I leave you alive today is because Max did truly love you. You will not be spared a second time."

Erik does not dignify the hysterical woman one final glance.

To Erik Lehnsherr, to Magneto, Max Eisenhardt burned to death years ago along with his wife Magda and their only child Anya.

~x~

"I, no, we mutants, should thank you. You've insured that one of the most powerful and charismatic mutants alive today is once and for all secure in his beliefs and determination."

Emma and Azazel appeared in front of the human as soon as Erik levitated himself back to the car and drove back towards Westchester. She's not proud to have had to set upon her ally armed humans, but desperate measures and all that.

"As a token of my appreciation, I will make sure your children will know their father. And if they turn out to be human, I'll personally make their deaths swift and painless."

Her words snap the still overwrought woman out of her terrified, frenzied state.

"W-what? No! L-leave my children out of this! They're innoce-"

"Go."

With a minute tilt of her head, Emma has the human walk herself in the direction of the water at the edge of the wharf. The two mutants watch on as the human walks off into the water, limbs trying to react against its forces but only managing to spasm under the mental lock. Only after the drowned, lifeless body surfaces and floats with the rhythm of the lapping water do the pair teleport away.

Was all set on sitting down and finishing this chapter as well as the snapshot, but I woke up to a very long, scathing critique this morning, that although well intentioned, have certain parts striking a nerve.

I know my stories are galaxies away from perfect. My writing is often horrendous, repetitive and obviously amateur. I take too much liberty with prose construction, and should probably stop experimenting with different writing styles every story.

All of my ficcing is done for fun and to kill time (back when I had an abundance of). I have no aspirations to become a published writer, fanfic is simply an outlet for me to engage in this fandom with. Of course, when one posts things in public domains you're opening yourself up to criticism. But it's one thing to offer constructive criticism and quite another to imply a whole load of negativity under the guise of concrit.

The reviewer did make many valid points about the implausibility of certain real world tie-ins that I know I could and should have researched properly and to that end, I am very sorry for blatantly demanding your stretch of imagination and/or logic. I'm not from the States, never even set foot on the continent, nor was I around in the 60s. I apologize to those who might have issue with my handwaves and overly convenient uses of coincidences and right next door locales. Perhaps it might be better if I added an AU tag.

If you've followed the story to this point, thank you so much for overlooking all the mistakes and implausibilities, I owe it to you wonderful readers who have actually read beyond the first chapter to make the necessary corrections. If there are any plot/fact/prose problems that have been nagging you, please do let me know and where possible, I'll do my best to correct it or answer with plausibility. When this story is finally complete, I'll see about going back and doing one whole cohesive correction.