Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.

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Chapter Sixteen

Old Friends

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Clark blinked as Eric Lensherr carefully entered the kitchen, going slowly so that his companion could use him as a support. Reaching a chair, Eric helped his companion to sit down, then took the chair next to him.

"Charles?" Clark asked. "Wha… how?"

"You remember the med-pod that arrived yesterday?" Charles Xavier asked and Clark nodded. "Eric made a comment about my paralysis and I realized that for some reason, I'd never actually thought about getting myself healed, so I volunteered to be the first through the pod with Forge and Tekmage monitoring it to check it was safe. Walking is harder than I remember it to be, though…"

"I did try to tell you to take it easy." Eric pointed out with a slight smile. "You have been sitting down for several decades, so even with the rebuilding that the med-pod did…"

Eric trailed off as Charles nodded. "Indeed, old friend, but actually being able to walk once more… I had forgotten what it felt like. I didn't miss the cramps, though."

"And the pod worked perfectly." Tekmage added as he entered the room. "Forge is heading off, something about a blackbird. He also said something about a second pod, but I'm not sure where it would fit."

"We have a second medbay in the X-Men's base." Xavier commented. "I'm afraid that it's restricted, though."

"No problems." Tekmage shrugged. "I'm heading out tomorrow, anyway. I'm joining the Solar Defence Fleet, my powers give me quite an advantage now that I've managed to learn how Kryptonian Tech feels like. It's really different from Earth-tech."

"Most of my Acolytes are finding new paths to follow." Magneto commented. "I have given each of them a fairly large sum of money to aid them on their way, but several seem to have gone into hiding rather than take advantage of the pardon that was offered. As for me… I find myself looking forwards to teaching. Clark, I must ask… should I wear a suit or my caped armor?"

"I can probably run up a new outfit for you, one that at the very least doesn't interfere with your power." Clark mused. "All of the X-men use Kryptonian-tech bodysuits, a few modifications… I could probably make it easier for you to fly as well."

"Unless I have a large amount of metal around, it can be fairly draining." Eric admitted. "It would be appreciated, I am no longer as young as I once was."

"Morning, dad!" Chris called as he burst into the kitchen. "Morning gran, morning Doctor X. Erm… hi? Who are you?"

"They are Magneto and Tekmage." Laura said as she walked into the kitchen. "Have read files. You should too."

"I know." Chris sighed as he pulled out two chairs and flopped into one of them. "I'm starving. Thanks, gran!"

Martha smiled as she slip a plate of food in front of Chris, then she put one in front of Laura, who nodded in thanks. "Eat up, you've still got a lot of growing up to do."

"So, at last we meet." Eric said with a smile, capturing Martha's hand and bowing to kiss the knuckles of it. "I have heard tales of your divine cooking, Mrs Kent. It is an honor to be in the presence of one so gifted."

"Flatterer." Martha giggled as she reclaimed her hand while Charles rolled his eyes.

"Eric." A new voice said as Mystique entered, pausing long enough to exchange kisses with Clark.

"Eugh, kissy stuff." Chris whined.

"I am certain that when you are older, you will understand the attraction of, as you so eloquently put it, kissy stuff." Eirc snarked. "Mystique, I am glad to see you are well. I can only apologize for not attending your wedding to offer my congratulations and best wishes then."

"Thank you." Raven smiled as she accepted a plate of food and sat down next to her husband. "It's been… interesting. In a good way."

"I am glad to see that you finally have a true family." Magneto continued as he sat down, accepting a plate of food with a grateful nod. "Although I once had one, I let my philosophical stance become more important… something that I now regret."

"That reminds me, Wanda will be coming back soon, with the other students." Charles offered. "She has undergone a large amount of therapy which has helped her to adjust to real life."

"I could not help her, so I placed her where I thought she could do no damage." Magneto sighed. "I should have searched harder for a way to help her."

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty." Raven offered, then she frowned slightly. "Clark, I think you and I should intercept Wanda before she and the other students return. She will need to be warned."

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"How do I look?"

Charles glanced up from the paperwork on his desk. Magneto stood in the doorway, wearing a black under-suit with a dark purple, calf-length open coat that flared like a cape. Metallic boots and bracers matched the trim on the coat while set by his left lapel was an icon that Xavier had never seen before, but whose component parts he recognized instantly. The icon was Magneto's helmet superimposed over the Institute's logo.

"Nice." Charles nodded. "You make it look good."

"Not only is there metal woven through this entire suit, but it contains Kryptonian technology that allows me to use my power like never before." Magneto said, a smile crossing his normally-stern face. "Perhaps, had I not been so arrogant and convinced of mutant superiority, I might have persuaded Clark to enter our little disagreement on my side."

"That would have been… terrifying." Charles replied after a moment of contemplation.

"Well, what is done is done." Eric said with a slight shrug. "I have to ask, how many of our kind have returned?"

Charles gave Eric a look and he winced.

"My apologies. Decades of habit are hard to break. I meant to ask, how many mutants have returned?"

"All the Institute students and about a dozen others in Bayville that I am aware of." Charles finally supplied. "Most of the others are remaining on New Krypton, the majority of them in New Kryptonopolis."

"I have seen some of the pamphlets and the apartments there are indeed quite large." Eric agreed. "Why have a small home on Earth when you could have an apartment thrice the size on New Krypton? An apartment supplied with extremely advanced technology, no less."

"You'll find quite a bit of the same technology at Bayville High." Charles supplied, earning a quizzical eyebrow. "Clark has overseen the refitting of the school so that the building is virtually immune to the use of most metahuman powers. Kitty was… not happy to find she couldn't take short-cuts any more."

Eric's lips twitched into a smile. "Well, I must fly… quite literally, in fact. I find myself looking forwards to this."

"By the way, where are you staying?" Charles asked curiously. "May said that you had a place, but she didn't mention where?"

"With the Brotherhood for now." Eric said. "I have asked Mystique for forgiveness and she has indeed forgiven me. It is odd, though. For over a decade, I was the one who was in charge and now, I am the second-in-command of the Brotherhood, answering to the one I once commanded. It is taking some getting used to."

"Explains why Raven's been looking rather smug though." Charles mused, hiding a smile, then he lifted a hand to hide a yawn.

"Feel free to laugh, Charles." Eric shot over his shoulder as he left. "We know each other too well to hide when we are amused at what the other one is going through. By the way, you look like you really need to get some sleep."

"I wish I could." Charles whispered as the door closed. "But I keep getting… visions. Of a woman pleading for my help…"

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Eric brushed his hair back as he he heard the approaching feet. For a moment, he glanced at the helmet resting on his desk, but a few seconds of thought re-affirmed his decision to not wear it. After all, he wanted to be seen as being approachable to the students he was about to induct into the wonders of history and wearing a helmet that cast his face into shadow would not be conducive to that end.

A wave of his hand opened the door before the first student could reach it and the children filed in, some of them giving him looks of shocked recognition as they made their way to their desks. Once they were all seated, Magneto glanced at the small holographic register (which showed that all the students he was expecting had indeed shown up) before he started his introduction.

"Good morning, class. For those of you who do not recognize me, I am your new history teacher, Eric Lensherr, also known as Magneto, former leader of the Acolytes. I am here to show you how we all came to be here today, to introduce you to the great wonders and inspirations of history, to help you build the foundation you need to know where we all came from, a foundation that you will find helps you when you decide where you wish to go and what you want to achieve. To help you with this, I have a book for each of you."

Eric waved and the stack of books in the corner rose, spreading out to come to rest just above each desk. For a moment, the books simply hovered, then they tipped and slid off the metal discs supporting them, landing on the desks of the students. The discs flew back to the corner and neatly stacked themselves as Eric resumed speaking.

"The book you have in front of you now is the Chronicle of the World. It is an excellent book for giving an overview of history with explanations for a great many of the events that have shaped the world that we live in, all presented in an easily-read format. Most of the topics that we will cover in the years to come are mentioned in the book, allowing you to decide which parts you wish to research further. Yes?"

"Mr. Lensherr," The girl who had raised her hand asked, "I'm not complaining, but why a book? Why not simply let us look it up online?"

"Using the book will help you learn other lessons too." Eric said, mentally thanking the girl for the opening that she had given him. "You will learn how to look for things without relying on a search engine, how to identify and use the important facts presented to create your own notes and essays, how to compare the carefully-researched book with the less accurate on-line documents and find the inaccuracies. Also, books do not need power to work while the act of turning the pages can be very soothing. While I do not dispute the advantages of computers and the internet, it is a good idea to have at least some knowledge of other forms of research for one day, you may need them…"

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"Clark." Eric nodded as he entered the staff room. "Hank."

"Hello, Eric." Hank smiled as he made a mark on the page he was reading with a green pen. "Did you enjoy your lessons?"

"The students are very eager to learn." Eric admitted. "I could most definitely get used to teaching as a career."

"That may be our fault." Clark laughed as he finished pouring a coffee and passed it to Hank, who took it with a nod of thanks. "The students love being taught be super-heroes and try to prove themselves worthy of it."

"Out of interest, did I really see Patriot and Guardsman out on the sports field earlier?" Eric asked as he began to pour himself a cup of tea.

"Connor wanted to see what teaching is like and Isaiah was once in the military." Clark shrugged. "Both of them know plenty of first-aid should it be required and Connor seems to see Isaiah as a mentor-figure."

Eric took a sip from his cup and winced. "This is meant to be tea?"

"Yeah, that's why I have coffee whenever I'm teaching here." Clark replied, hiding a smirk. "While May Parker can make an excellent cup of tea, we kind of have leaf soup here."

Eric took another sip and shuddered.

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"Reed, why aren't you in bed yet?" Susan Richards asked as she leaned forwards to wrap her arms around her absent-minded husband.

"I've been checking the readings sent back by the Solar Defense Force's autonomous recon probes." Reed said, using his power to stretch half-way across the room to type a command into the computer station. "You need to see this."

Susan sighed and glanced at the holographic image with a line of red dots on it.

"What the…?"

"On the plus side, the Kandorian Kryptonians should be fully empowered by then, even if they'll have issues with staying power." Reed commented as another red dot appeared. "I wonder how many planets this thing has taken out? It looks like it's targeting specific planets, but what attracts it?"

"You know, I think I'd like to test your staying power." Susan whispered and Reed opened his mouth, then slapped himself on the forehead.

"I can hear Karsta's voice now. Reed, stop hugging your instruments and go hug your wife. Let me shut these down and then I'll do my best to prove I'm sorry for letting myself get so distracted."

Susan sent her Kryptonian best friend a mental thank you as she watched her husband save his data and shut down the computers. At long last, he was showing signs that the training was working.