Hello everyone! Before I start I would like to make a small preamble: this story is written in the original Italian and this English translation was made by an artificial intelligence, I hope to be able to correct any mistakes, if not I ask you to be lenient.

Enjoy reading and let me know what you think, readers' opinions always help me to improve my work!

I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter, this one will be a little quieter but there will be an unexpected ending!

6. Allies

Everyone had followed Charles without a word, unsure of how to behave, no one spoke during the journey, and even when they arrived at the school Charles' serious expression continued to intimidate them.

"Follow me," he said and, without adding anything else, headed for his office and only when they were all there and the door was closed did Hank find the courage to speak.

"Charles, did something happen?" he asked "We tried to stop Erik, he was alone but it was equally difficult to stand up to him. Then suddenly he was gone, he had ravaged the warehouse, evidently his goal was to destroy what was in it and, unfortunately, he succeeded."

Charles was more serious than ever, he sighed.

"Listen, we need to discuss many things," he said, looking at the time "it's very late, if you want ..."

"No, we want to know now," Logan said, and everyone else nodded.

"Very well," replied Charles, walked over to the window, looked out, then returned to them.

"Hank, you said Erik destroyed everything in that warehouse, right?"

Hank nodded.

"You'll be surprised to hear me say that, but that's good."

Everyone looked at each other without understanding.

"Now, the time has come to reveal to you some things you are not aware of," Charles explained.

"You mean ... that thing?" asked Hank "That thing that only the two of us, Erik and Raven, know about?"

"I know it too," said Logan "I recently regained my memory."

Jean frowned.

"I don't understand," she said, without concealing a certain amount of anger and surprise "You've been hiding a secret for years? A secret you share with Magneto and Mistique?"

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Scott "All these years you have lied to us? Have you kept secrets from us, alliances perhaps? Why do you justify it now? What he did tonight ..."

"What Erik did was reckless," Charles said calmly, "But it bought us time."

"I don't understand either," said Ororo, "Why not reveal these things to us now? Because ..."

"If you would let me speak you might understand," Charles interrupted her, still calm but more sternly "If you had not seen what I saw tonight, we probably would never have told you about it."

"That makes it all the more serious," Jean said.

"No, you're wrong," Hank answered her, "If you would let Charles speak ..."

Everyone nodded, Logan lit a cigar.

"As you already know, during these months, while I was training, I did not stop teaching. I taught private lessons with Wanda and other students and, in particular, with Kitty Pride. I discovered years ago, even before she was born, that her power enables her not only to cross matter but to transfer consciousness back in time."

"Wait," said Jean, "How did you know that before she was born?"

Charles smiled, then went to the front of his bookshelf, from which and took out an old photo album, which he laid open on his desk. They were all black and white photos, in which were young Charles in a wheelchair, Hank, Havok and other students he did not recognize.

"Hank and I, along with Havok, founded this school in the 1960s. It took a few years before it was fully operational then, when everything seemed fine, the Vietnam War broke out and students and professors were called back to the front. I, for obvious reasons, was not called up, and Hank stayed by my side to help me. I ..." he said, slightly embarrassed "had problems, many problems."

At that moment Charles seemed more than a little embarrassed, closed his eyes and did not even open them again when he began to speak again.

"I had lost everything: Raven, my legs, the school, and control over my powers. I could feel everything, all the suffering the war brought, but not only that."

Charles opened his eyes again; they were filled with anger and frustration.

"There was a man, Bolivar Trask, who had begun to study the mutant gene."

"Obviously not for peaceful purposes," emphasized Hank.

"Exactly," confirmed Charles, "Mutants were being captured, used as guinea pigs, and finally killed to gain further information from autopsies."

Jean brought her hand in front of her mouth, horrified.

"This is awful ..." she said, "How could you stand it?"

Charles bowed his head.

"Hank and I were on our own, there was nothing we could do to thwart Trask."

"You were caught really bad, Charles," Logan commented, looking at the smoke he had just exhaled.

Scott looked at Logan.

"Wait, you were there too?"

Logan smiled and nodded.

"He saw me at a time in my life when I was ..." said Charles, searching for the most appropriate words to describe himself at that moment.

"A wreck," Logan concluded for him.

"I agree," confirmed Hank.

"Thank you!" replied Charles with a half-smile "it's true, I was a wreck. I was taking a serum that inhibited my telepathy and allowed me to walk, but I was sick. Then, all of a sudden, Logan knocked on our door and turned our lives upside down."

"He told us he was from the future," Hank said, "It was ... strange."

"Yes, we were in a critical situation, we had to change the past to prevent the present I was coming from from happening."

"Maybe you should get to the point, Charles," Hank urged him.

Charles nodded.

"What Logan had come to prevent was the creation of the Sentinels, I think you've heard of that before."

"Yes," Jean replied, "The project, however, was stopped."

"That's right, thanks to our intervention. The Sentinels of the future that Logan came from had been developed based on the DNA of Raven, who had been captured after killing Trask in Paris. We managed to prevent her capture and ... well, let's say things were not easy, we allied with Erik and there were many problems, but we managed to avert disaster. About a year ago Logan regained his memory, returned to the present after traveling into the past."

"Wow! What a story!" exclaimed Scott "Indeed it is tremendous ... but what does it have to do with us?"

Charles took a deep breath.

"At the time, Trask was working assiduously to study mutant DNA, and the Sentinels were his greatest work, although they were later shelved. The problem," he said, after a short pause, "The problem is that they were not the only thing he worked on. There was another tool that was created at the time, with the shelving of the Sentinels project it was even forgotten, until a few years ago."

Charles rubbed his face; it was obvious that fatigue, stress, and fear were getting to him.

"Hank, Logan, do you remember that little gizmo that Trask used to carry around with him?"

The two nodded.

"What is it about?" Ororo asked.

"It's not a weapon, which is why I think it was dramatically underestimated. It is a sensor that can identify mutants."

"I remember that!" exclaimed Hank "That thing that beeped when there was a mutant nearby!"

Charles nodded.

"Obviously that sensor was built into the Sentinels so that they would only attack mutants, but Trask had one that he always carried in his pocket."

"I don't understand," Scott said, "If it's not a weapon, why should we care?"

"Don't you realize the consequences of mass deployment of that kind of sensor?" asked Charles.

"You mean ..." began Hank, horrified "In that warehouse there were ..."

"There were boxes full of those sensors." confirmed Charles "Raven was in the offices gathering information. They explained to me that one of Trask's co-workers had recently managed to get into proxy of the old designs, it took him a few years to perfect them, but now they are reality. Or, at least, they were, before Erik destroyed them. His actions have put us in a very bad position, but at least for the moment the danger is postponed."

"Oh my God," murmured Jean, "I get chills thinking about what they could do with those sensors?"

"It would be devastating," confirmed Charles "Mutant life is based on anonymity. It pains me to admit it, but Erik is right, racism against us exists and is dangerous, which is why, as much as possible, we must remain hidden. Imagine what could happen if such sensors were placed at the entrances of schools, stores, hospitals, public buildings or even in the hands of law enforcement or private citizens. Then a mutant hunt would begin, and even the most moderate people might succumb to violence."

Logan sat down, that thought was too much even for him.

"What do you propose, Charles?" asked Hank "You don't want to ..."

"That's right," he replied, nodding, "We have no choice but to ally with Erik.

"No fucking way!" exclaimed Scott "Rather than ally with him ..."

"We have no choice" Charles interrupted him "Even in the future we managed to foil we were allies and came to the solution that an alliance was the only viable path to defend ourselves. Besides," he commented, without concealing disappointment, "It would be more complicated to have to fight against those who want to exterminate mutants and him at the same time. We have a common enemy, Scott, whether you want it or not is the truth."

Scott clenched his fists but at the same time lowered his gaze, aware of the Professor's reasons.

"As I said, Erik acts on impulse, the disaster he wreaked tonight is proof of that, which is why we have to ..."

"Control him?" asked Hank, not hiding a defiant tone.

"No," replied Charles, angrily, "We have to ... channel his energy," he concluded, "We have to fight on the same side, using the same means, and surely violence will not be one of them."

Logan nodded.

"I agree." he said, extinguishing his cigar on an ashtray "So he will live here?"

Charles raised both eyebrows, surprised.

"If we can talk about it," he replied "From the facts inherent in the Cure Erik has lost all of his subordinates," Charles explained "Some have died and those who saved themselves or lost their powers and then recovered them no longer trust him. I think ..."

"No way," Logan interrupted him, getting up and approaching Charles in a threatening manner "Action is taken. I want him here. I want him watched closely."

Charles looked at him surprised, then smiled.

"If everyone agrees ..."

"I never thought this day would come," Scott said, "But I agree with Logan. We have to watch him."

"Even having him here will be difficult to keep track of what he does," said Jean "But I, too, would feel more comfortable if he were here and not who knows where doing damage."

"I agree," Ororo added.

"Then it's settled," said Hank, rubbing his hands together "Charles, will you contact him?"

Charles, who meanwhile had not stopped smiling, nodded.

"Great! That's done, too. I'd say we've talked enough for today, time for bed."

Everyone nodded, murmured a sleepy "good night," and left the room. Except for Charles, the last to reach the door was Hank, but he stopped and looked at him.

"I know you're happy that Erik and Raven are coming back here," he said, giving him an amused look, "But you could wipe that smug look off your face."

Charles laughed, laughed heartily, as he hadn't in years, calmed himself, pretended to think about it, then shook his head.

"No."