The dim lights of the hospital corridor flickered above Iris as she walked quickly beside Charles' moving hospital bed.

"We need to remove the bullet," One doctor murmured to the other, and Iris found herself speaking.

"The bullet's already been removed."

"You removed it with no medical equipment?" One of them asked, their eyes narrowing.

"No," Iris shook her head, "Someone else removed it without our control. We did everything we could for him."

A nurse reached out for Iris' wrist gently, "Are you aware that you're bleeding yourself? Perhaps you need to sit down while we stitch that up for you. Are you in shock?"

Iris glanced at the nurse, "I don't want to leave him. Not like this."

"He's in good hands, Miss. Miracle," One of the doctors murmured quietly, "I'll alert you as soon as there's any progress."

The nurse finally grabbed onto Iris' wrist and stopped her from walking. She watched as the bed was wheeled through the double doors into the operating theatre and out of sight.

"Miss. Miracle?" The nurse asked quietly, "I need to know if you're in shock. Do you know how you got here?"

Iris tried to think, but everything in her mind was a blur. She shook her head slowly as she tried to recall vague memories of escaping the beach on Cuba.

"I think you need to come and lie down over here," The nurse murmured, "So I can clean that cut up for you."

Slowly, Iris raised her fingers to her head and felt the warm sticky liquid on her skin. She suddenly remembered banging her head when the plane had crashed on the beach.

That had been before she'd seen Shaw. Before she'd seen everything.

"Oh my god," She suddenly whispered as her head cleared and she felt bile rise in her throat.

"Miss. Miracle?" The nurse asked, holding her hands out just in time as Iris' eyes slid shut and she fell away into darkness.

*

The steady beep of the machine, which had initially irritated Charles, had become a comfort to him. He had drifted in and out of consciousness for the first day, and as he woke up now he remembered everything that happened on the beach. He felt it all rush back into his head, and he closed his eyes quickly.

He became aware of the warm hand clasped around his own, and his eyes shot open again and he glanced over at Iris sitting on the chair beside his bed. She was asleep with her head leaning forwards, and Charles observed the small crease between her eyebrows.

He pushed himself up as best as he could, studying her carefully. She looked deep in thought, and as he leant forwards she let out a quiet whimper.

A moment later, the hospital room disappeared as Iris projected an image across it. Charles recognised the image instantly- it was the room in which her parents had died in, and she seemed to be replaying the memory as she dreamt about it.

Charles was frozen in place, unsure of what to do as he watched the bullets hit her parents and heard the screams of Iris as a child.

The image fell away and was replaced by Shaw and Erik standing opposite each other while Iris was trapped in the corner, unable to stop Erik from making his first kill. Charles had witnessed the murder from Shaw's head, had felt the pain of it all, but seeing it from this point of view intensified the experience. Iris' shouts and screams were difficult to ignore, and Charles found himself closing his eyes for a brief moment to steady himself.

The image flickered away and Charles was suddenly witnessing memories for only seconds before they were replaced by other ones. He only had to see a few to realise that they were the foggy memories from her time as Shaw's weapon.

As Charles watched them, he remembered Shaw's words to Erik.

Iris Miracle is infinitely impossible.

And then he remembered Erik's words to Iris on the beach.

When you realise how powerful you are, you'll turn to us.

The images faded away, leaving behind the dimly lit hospital room. Charles barely registered it though as he gazed at Iris.

He needed to protect her- from Erik, from the other mutants who would use her power against humans.

More than anything, he needed to protect her from herself.

*

Iris stood in front of Charles, a small smile on her face.

"So we're making this a school now?"

Charles glanced at the building behind her, avoiding her gaze, "It looks like it."

Iris laughed, "That's going to be interesting- you're a great teacher, but me? Not sure if I'll manage it."

Charles closed his eyes for a moment, and then whispered, "You won't have to."

Iris stopped laughing, her expression hardening, "What are you talking about?"

"Iris..." Charles began, "There's something inside of you- something dangerous and powerful that people want. Erik will want it, or any other mutants who try to gain power."

Iris hesitated, "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to wipe your memory. Of this, of your power, of me-"

"No," She shook her head, "You can't do that. These are my memories, Charles. If you do this, aren't you just the same as Shaw?"

"But the difference between Shaw and I is that I'm doing this because I care about you. He did it because he couldn't use you any more." Charles whispered.

"What is it that's so dangerous about me? I don't understand, Charles. I could be safe here with you-" She gulped, her voice thick with tears.

"Your powers- it's not just illusions, like we thought. It's something entirely different. You can transport people to their past or to another destination and leave them there. I saw it in Shaw's mind. A power like that can be used for truly awful things." Charles shook his head.

"But I wouldn't dare use my powers for something bad! I'm a good person, Charles! You know that! Please don't do this to me, I beg you." Iris whispered, her eyes wide with hurt. Charles half wanted her to turn around and walk away so that he wouldn't have to do what he was about to do, but she was in too much disbelief to turn away from him.

He started to speak but she cut him off as she bent down and kissed him on the lips urgently. He kissed her back, running his hands through her hair and memorising every part of her as best as he could.

"Don't do this, Charles. You'll never forgive yourself if you do. We belong together." Iris murmured, her eyes shining with tears, "I just don't understand. We can talk his out, Charles. Why are you being so difficult about this?"

"I wish that we could be together. I truly do. But your safety is more important to me."

Charles pressed his fingers to his temples, and Iris started to scream his name before she suddenly fell to the floor, and everything went black.

*

When Iris opened her eyes, all she could see was a bright light. As her eyes adjusted, she realised that she was lying on a hospital bed. She jerked up with a gasp, turning to look around at her.

"Whoa, whoa," A nurse came rushing over, "Not so fast, Miss. Miracle. You've had a nasty accident."

"What are you talking about? Where am I?" Iris demanded, her heart racing.

"You're at the hospital. You had an accident and lost a few of your memories. What's the last thing that you can remember?" The nurse asked kindly.

Iris shook her head, "My boss... fired me from my job. And I left the building and then... after that it's just... blank."

Iris tried to pull any memories back, but nothing was coming. She shook her head, "Did I bang my head?"

"I'm afraid you did, Miss. Miracle. Don't worry, though. A young man escorted you to the hospital and ensured that there wasn't any obvious damage. As for your memories, it's only a week or two that has been lost. You don't need to worry." The nurse soothed.

Iris nodded, feeling herself begin to calm down. There was still something in her that felt panicked, and her hands were clenched tightly.

"We'll sort you out," The nurse smiled gently, "Don't worry, Miss. Miracle. Perhaps what you should focus on for now is finding yourself a new job."

"Yes," Iris murmured quietly, "Perhaps I will."