Iris had spent the first half of the day in the training room, attempting to practise to fight. She had waited to go in there until no one else was there so that she wouldn't humiliate herself in front of all of the others.

They all had such powerful skills which she only wished that she could compare to- she had nothing.

As she hit the punch-bag in front of her with short, sharp punches, she wondered what she was doing there. She barely knew anything about what they were fighting for, but she somehow felt drawn to the other mutants as if she had a connection to them. She just had no idea what it was.

Then there was Shaw. The name that- for some reason- caused her heart to twist and her throat to swell with emotion as if she wanted to scream and cry- but why? For some reason, she felt as if she hated him.

The thought of him caused her to lift her knee up and jerk the punch-bag upwards before hitting it again with her fist, causing it to fly across the room.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Iris spun around, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Charles stood there with an apologetic smile on his face, "Sorry, I didn't mean to watch, but there was something so very... driven about the way that you were hitting that punch-bag."

Iris pushed her hair out of her face and tried to control her flaming red cheeks, "It's okay- I just didn't realise that anyone else was in here. If you need to use this room, I can go and-"

"No, no!" Charles stepped forwards, "I actually came to retrieve you for some training. I wondered if we would be able to try and unlock your memories again like we were yesterday."

Iris nodded quickly, "I just need to get changed, and then I will be right with you."

"I'll meet you in the spare room next to this one- it's free and no one will be using it today."

It didn't take very long for Iris to change from her sports clothes into a more comfortable skirt and jumper with her hair pulled up into a bun. She threw her dirty clothes across the room into the basket and shut the door behind her, making her way down the stairs and towards the room that Charles was waiting for her in.

To her surprise, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for her to sit beside him.

"Is this how you've been training everyone?" She asked with a smile on her face as he gestured for her to sit down.

"Everyone's abilities are different. And we need to find out what yours is." Charles smiled at her, "It is rather fascinating, you know- the fact that you have no idea what your mutation is. I shall be intrigued to know why it hasn't shown itself yet."

Iris frowned, "Is it supposed to have shown itself by now?"

She had no recollection of ever being different or having any gifts. Maybe Charles had been wrong about her being a mutant after all.

"It usually does show itself before we become teenagers- but perhaps yours is different. May I?"

Iris nodded slowly as he reached his hands out and touched both temples, causing her to shiver slightly as his cold fingers brushed against her warm skin.

He closed his eyes, and Iris instantly felt his presence inside her mind as he nudged his way towards her memories. He was travelling backwards, from the most recent memories to those from her childhood. She felt the same sensation that she had felt on the plane before the further that he went back, and her fists clenched as she tried to suppress a cry of pain.

A bird flew across the sky, singing as it did to catch another's attention. Iris sat up, putting her book down beside her and watching the bird- a sparrow- fly into its nest.

"When was the last time you played Frisbee?" Her friend spoke from beside her on the picnic rug, picking up the plastic disc beside him and standing up with a grin.

"Simon!" Iris groaned, pulling herself up, "I need to study, you know."

"Well, let's just play a game for ten minutes as a study break- you know you are allowed to have fun in your spare time, right?"

She shook her head, "Just because you don't care about your future doesn't mean I can't care about mine, Simon. Plus I was held back a year. I can't afford that mistake again."

"Whatever," He muttered, flicking open a book with a sigh, "Why were you even held back anyway?"

The scene changed, and she was sitting in the headmaster's office with her grandmother. The expression on the teacher's face implied that the news wasn't going to be good.

"I'm afraid your granddaughter will have to retake the year. We gave her a general exam yesterday and she is a year behind everyone else at her age. Do you know why this is?"

Iris shook her head in confusion- she had been at school with everyone else, hadn't she? Why was she suddenly a year behind?

Iris was standing alone in the house, staring at the empty corridors and rooms. She clutched onto her suitcases tightly, willing herself not to cry. She was leaving everything behind- leaving it all behind because she had lost her parents, and she couldn't live alone when she was so young.

"Iris Miracle?" A kind voice sounded from behind her as the care worker approached her, "Is everything alright? Do you need a few more moments alone, or are you ready to leave?"

She squeezed her eyes shut one final time, taking a deep breath and turning away from the home that she had grown up in.

"I'm ready to leave."

Iris felt as Charles began to go further back, and suddenly she felt the sharpest of pains in her head, causing her to cry out at last. Charles kept his hands on her head as to not lose the connection, but whispered, "I'm sorry- I think that this is going to hurt. Do you want to continue?"

Iris gritted her teeth, and muttered, "Do it. Please."

She cried out again as he delved deeper into her memories, but she did not move to break the connection.

A young blonde woman stood before her, brushing her fingers against Iris' temples gently and whispering softly to soothe her. Iris was crying, sobbing in the way that young girls do.

A man stepped forwards with a smile on his face, "Do it all, Emma. Block the power and the memories of ever having them. If she won't work for us, she won't work for anyone."

"Stop!" Iris sobbed, but Emma was already too far in the process, and as she began to shout again, she stopped halfway through her sentence as everything went black.

Iris gasped, sitting up and clutching at the floor beneath her to steady herself. She could hear Charles beside her as well, breathing quickly as well.

"What happened?" She asked, turning to face him.

He looked out of breath and in pain as if the process had really strained his powers, "There is a block- a block on your mind that was placed by another telepath like me."

"Can it be broken?" Iris whispered.

"I can certainly try. I just need to delve back as far as possible, and I might be able to find something that will help me." He hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, "I'm sorry about finding such personal memories regarding your parents."

She nodded, "It's alright, Charles. I... I was young. It was a long time ago."

"How old were you?" Charles' blue eyes met with hers, and she gulped, "Ten years old, actually. It was unexpected- I just woke up one day and a care worker came to tell me what had happened."

Charles stared at her, biting his lip to stop himself from asking any more questions that would get more personal, "Should we finish up today?"

Iris sighed- she felt exhausted, and she was sure that Charles did as well. She stood up, helping him up as well as she thanked him for helping her out. She walked towards the doors before turning suddenly, "One more thing- that man who told Emma to block my power. Who was he?"

Charles closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head, "That was Sebastian Shaw."