Charles was nervous. After Erik had left to talk to hank about taking the collar off, Charles had started to get restless. The idea that he might finally be able to get his mutant power back both exhilarated and scared him. He'd spent so long believing that his power had been what caused his Mother's death that he had learnt to fear it, not wanting to repeat that. Except Erik had told him it wasn't his fault and seeing the sincerity in his friends face made Charles believe him. But he'd spent so long without his power that the idea of bringing them back did scare him because he knew that his control on his telepathy would have disappeared by now, meaning he would have to learn to control it again.

When Erik returned, with Hank and Raven in tow, Charles had almost convinced himself that taking the collar off was a bad idea. He almost said as much, before meeting Erik's eyes. The steely resolve in Erik's own eyes made Charles feel his own resolve strengthen. He wanted this. Wanted his power back. "You still okay to do this, Charles?" Raven asked, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a little nervous." Charles replied. "How is this going to work, exactly?"

"It might take a while because I've never actually had to keep it active while taking it off." Hank said. "Could I have a look?" Charles nodded, letting Hank look at it.

He felt a little self-conscious, having Hank poke around at his neck. The younger scientist was frowning at it but didn't say anything. Hank spent the next half an hour poking at it before moving away. "I'll see what I can do." Charles nodded, watching as Hank and Raven disappeared from the room.

Erik took a seat next to Charles and asked, "How are you?"

"Fine." Erik raised an eyebrow but Charles ignored it. "I've lived with my past my whole life so I'm fine."

The older man frowned again. "Charles."

"Just drop it Erik." Charles snapped. "I know I'm in a wheelchair and you know all about my past now but I am fine."

"What if Hank can't keep the collar activated, will you still want it off?" Charles didn't answer, not knowing what Erik wanted him to say.

"If it's deactivated then my step-father will know and he'd come here." Charles said, hesitantly. "I don't want to cause you any trouble and before you say you can handle it I'd feel terrible if I brought trouble to your door." Erik was still frowning but he, thankfully, let Charles continue. "At the same time, I miss not being able to feel other people's minds and I want my mutation back. So I don't know Erik, I don't know what I'll do." Erik didn't look satisfied by the answer but he didn't argue either.

"I need to get back to the café and I expect you to still be here when I get back."

"I'm not leaving any time soon."

"Good." Erik replied, exiting the flat and leaving Charles sat there with his own thoughts.

….

"Can you do it?" Raven was perched on one of the tables in Hank's make-shift lab.

"I don't know this collar is more complex than the others' I've seen." Hank replied. He'd been unsure about what Erik was asking to begin with, having usually only ever taken the collars off. The idea that they could keep the collar activated but off Charles may be good but hank wasn't sure he could do it.

"You'll find a way." Raven replied, placing a kiss on Hanks' cheek. "I've got to get to work but I'll be back soon." Hank nodded though he wasn't really paying attention as he turned back to his work.

….

Erik spent the time until closing time in his own thoughts. Alex and Sean, who were working today, noticed but kept their own questions to themselves, though Erik did have to tell them to stop gossiping and keep working.

By the time Erik closed down the café, he was getting steadily more nervous. He didn't understand what was wrong with him, having known Charles for only a short amount of time. Maybe it was the story of Charles' past or simply the fact that Erik hated to see Charles, who saw the best in everyone, hurt in that way. All Erik knew was that he wanted to help but he also knew it wasn't his choice and no matter how much he might want to force Charles to get rid of the collar he couldn't. Not least because Raven would probably kill him if he harmed Charles in any way.

Hank was in Charles' apartment when Erik walked in. Raven was, according to Hank, keeping the other inhabitants of the building occupied, except Logan who Erik could feel was still in his apartment, probably looking out for the suits returning.

"How was work?" Charles asked, keeping his voice level but Erik could see the unsureness in the other mutant's eyes.

"It took to long." Erik replied. "Did you find out how to take the collar off?" Hank nodded.

"Then we're really going to do this then." Nervousness was clear in Charles' voice.

"Only if you want to Charles." Hank said and for a moment Erik thought that Charles would say no.

"Yes, I do want to do this." Charles nodded.

….

Charles fiddled with the thread on his cardigan as Hank started doing something to the collar. The device's power source was at the back so Charles had to bend his head so Hank could get at it easier. He wasn't really sure what the scientist was doing but he enough trust in hank to not question it. Erik was pacing across the floor, tension coming off of him in waves.

It was strange, Charles thought, how much these people were doing for him. He hadn't spent time with mutants before and hadn't expected to befriend some. Charles had especially not expected the way they wanted to help him, making him feel welcomed in their lives.

"That should do it." Hank finally said after about 15 minutes of fiddling with the collar. Charles frowned, thinking how easy it had been but he didn't question it.

"You're sure about this Charles?" The telepath knew that Erik was only asking because he had to, but it was still a nice sentiment.

"I'm sure Erik." Charles nodded, motioning for Erik to continue.

….

Erik walked over to Charles, feeling the metal of the device around his friend's neck. He didn't know why he was nervous about this, having done it before on others, including himself. Charles put one of his hands on the metal device at the back of the collar, concentrating on the way the metal moved under his touch.

"Try not to touch any of the wires." Hank said and Erik nodded. He could feel the wires moving around the collar. They mostly stayed in one area so Erik moved away from the back of the collar and to the side. Charles was tensing in his seat.

….

Charles really wished that Erik would hurry up, even if he knew that Erik couldn't break what Hank had done. Finally he felt the metal start to come undone and within seconds the collar fell apart from his neck and onto his lap.

As soon as the collar was off, however, he felt overwhelmed. He could feel the thoughts of Erik and Hank as clearly as if they were saying them out loud and even from here, he could feel the thoughts of Logan in the other apartment. The minds of everyone in the cities mostly blurred together but they did buzz at Charles' consciousness.

Erik's mine was shouting out with worry and Charles involuntarily cringed away from the taller man. "Charles?" Erik's voice was hesitant and Charles' could feel the hurt coming off him in waves.

"Sorry, just give me a minute." Charles winced at the strain in his voice as he reached for the shields he'd built when he was younger. They came up, though they were weak but at least Charles could block out a lot of the thoughts.

Curious as to what else he could do, Charles reached tentatively for Erik's mind. It worked. Erik's mind flinched away and Charles felt a suddenly guilty about it. Is this alright? He tried again, glad when Erik didn't flinch away this time.

Yes. Erik's voice was hesitant but Charles could hear it. A wide grin spread across his lips at this. "Thank you, both of you." Charles said to the two mutants.

"It was our pleasure Charles." Erik said as Hank only nervously ducked his head. Hanks' mind was very interesting as the younger scientist was always thinking of new and different things to do with science. Charles resolved to talk to Hank about them but right now he was still getting used to the telepathy. "Shout if you need anything." Erik finally said, leaving the room with Hank.

I don't need to shout. Charles' voice sounded mischievous in Erik's head and Charles could hear the quiet laughter from Erik's head. It was fascinating, hearing all these voices again after so long. Charles felt more alighted than he had in so long.

When Raven and the others returned later in the night, Charles couldn't help but laugh a little breathlessly as their brains touched his. He could feel his friends in his mind and somehow that made him feel closer to them. Soon he felt as each one fell into sleep, the last being Hank who was in his lab.

Charles wanted to dig deeper into his friend's heads but he didn't want to invade their private thoughts so he pulled his shields up. They weren't strong and Charles was a little unsure of how long they held but as long as he concentrated he would be able to keep thoughts out but Charles managed. He fell asleep smiling, as he felt his friend's minds and dreams.

Tada, Charles has his power back. As always, hope you enjoyed and please review :)