Chapter 37

A/N -

Hello everyone - hope you guys are doing okay :)

Just a note to say that after this chapter there are only two more chapters left to upload. I'm going to be so sad to finish uploading this, I've enjoyed it so much! I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it :)

Either way, there's two parts left to look forward to after this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!

Stay safe :)


Iris was dreaming.

In the dream, she was a child. She was in a room with Shaw and Emma, and she was crying.

"I didn't want to hurt that man," She managed to say between sobs, "I didn't think I would hurt him."

Shaw's expression mocked sympathy, as he reached out and patted Iris' shoulder.

"He was... collateral damage. Don't let this deter you, Miracle. You were doing so well, before."

"Will he be okay?" She asked quietly, as the memory of fire flowing out of her fingertips towards a young man who worked with Shaw flashed up in her mind.

Emma smiled gently, "He'll be alright. They were only mild burns."

Iris shook her head slowly, "I refuse to use my powers if I can't control them. I could hurt people by accident, people I don't mean to hurt."

Shaw started to shake his head, "You don't mean that."

"I do." Her voice was firm, "I'm hardly any use to you if I can't control my powers, am I?"

Emma and Shaw shared a hesitant glance.

"She's not lying," Emma murmured quietly after reading Iris' thoughts.

Shaw sighed deeply, "Jesus... the things I do for you, Miracle. Emma, be a darling and teach her how to control them. She's the most powerful mutant I've ever met. The power to create... I don't want to lose that. So teach her control. Come to me when you're done."

With a grumble he stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Emma sat herself down opposite Iris and told her conjure the image of a coin. Iris concentrated for a moment, and the coin flickered into existence above her palm. She reached out and touched it, and it fell down into her hand.

"Now," Emma's voice was low, "Can you make it disappear again? You can will it into existence. Try doing the opposite."

Iris frowned at her in confusion.

"When you first learnt how to create things, you had to concentrate on making it exist. Slowly you've learnt how to do it without even thinking about it. You should be able to do it the other way around. The things that you've created, you should be able to erase."

Iris reached out and touched the coin with her finger, concentrating on the idea that it should just be an image, it shouldn't be real...

He finger passed right through the coin and touched her palm. She moved her hands away, and allowed the image to fade away.

Emma smiled at her – the smile she usually reserved for Shaw only.

"That's control. The things you create, if you're losing control of them, can quickly become telepathic images again."

Iris nodded. She was tired, and her mind felt foggy. She didn't know how long she'd been in this facility, with Emma and Shaw training her. She struggled to remember life before – it was a haze.

"Let's practise some more," Emma murmured, "Mr. Shaw will be very happy with us. This time, imagine a sword."

Iris awoke with a start and tried to catch her breath.

She wasn't a child, she wasn't with Emma and Shaw. She was in bed, beside Charles, at the mansion. She gulped, her thoughts flickering to the dream. It had been one of the more mellow dreams she'd had about her time with Shaw. Since the incident in Cairo a week before, she'd had flashes of memories of her time there – clearer than ever.

Something told her that the dream wasn't just a dream – it was a memory.

She sat up and glanced over at Charles. He was still asleep, curled up towards her, his hand stretched out onto her side of the bed. She was glad that he was still asleep. He'd been struggling to sleep since Cairo. The voices still plagued him, and although they were starting to fade, it was still overwhelming.

She leant down and pressed a kiss to his forehead before grabbing one of his jumpers from the side and pulling it over her head. She walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her, and made her way downstairs and out of the doors into the garden around the side of the building. She sat down on a bench and pulled the sleeves of Charles' jumper down over her hands.

She thought again of the dream. Perhaps it hadn't been a memory. Her mind was so overwhelmed with her clear childhood memories, it might have created distorted ones that weren't real.

She held out her hand, and watched a small coin appear in front of her. She touched it, feeling the weight of it in her palm.

Slowly, with her other hand, she reached and touched it.

It flickered out of existence. The breath rushed out of her.

It hadn't just been a dream after all.

*

When Charles woke up, the first thing he was aware of was the voices in his head. The second thing he noticed was the empty space in bed beside him.

Iris.

He felt his heart lurch in his chest. Had she left him again? Was she gone?

He sat up and switched the light on as he tried to steady his breathing. He focused on the voices in his head – still too many after Cairo – and after a pause he registered Iris' mind. She was still here, she was just outside.

Charles moved into his wheelchair and made his way out of the room quietly. He followed Iris' mind as he got into the lift, and realised that she was in the garden.

It didn't take him long to spot her, sitting on a bench, staring up at the night sky with Charles' lilac jumper pulled down over her hands. Her hair was loose, blowing gently in the wind. The sight of her there filled Charles' heart with warmth.

"Hey," He murmured softly, and she glanced up at him in surprise. Her face immediately switched to concern.

"Did I wake you up?" She asked, her eyebrows creased. He shook his head as he moved over beside where she was sitting on the bench.

"I woke up and wondered what you were up to at this late hour." He told her quietly. There was a moment of silence.

Iris turned to face him, "I had a dream about Shaw. But it wasn't just a dream, it was a memory. From when I was a child."

Charles reached out and squeezed her hand, urging her to carry on speaking.

"He knew about the full extent of my powers, about how I could create things. I'd been upset because I'd accidentally burnt someone that Shaw worked with – the same as I had with Hank. And I was refusing to use my powers unless I knew how to control them. Shaw knew it wasn't worth the risk. He didn't want to lose me. So he told Emma to teach me."

Iris withdrew her hand from Charles' and for a brief second he thought she was upset. Then he realised she was showing him something.

He watched as a coin appeared above her palm and fell into her hand. She passed it to him, pressing it into his hand. He felt the cold metal against his skin and glanced up at her in confusion, wondering what she was trying to prove to him.

She reached out and touched the coin, and Charles watched in astonishment as it disappeared from existence once more.

"The things I create can be destroyed too, Charles," She whispered gently. She didn't wait for him to say anything, and instead raised her hand, showing him flames that flickered at the end of her fingertips. He recognised the flash of fear in her eyes, and for a brief moment he felt flashes of memories from her – memories of her harming one of Shaw's men, of harming Hank, of crouching in a hotel shower cubicle fully clothed as she waited for the flames to go out, and of killing En Sabah Nur. He winced slightly at the intensity of the memories, but didn't take his gaze away from the flames on her fingertips. He watched as they flickered out of existence.

There was a pause, and then Charles took hold of her hand and kissed her knuckles. He was smiling, and so was she.

"You have no need to be afraid of yourself anymore," Charles murmured, "You've gained control of your powers."

"It's only taken me... what, twenty years?" Iris asked with a laugh. He leant forwards and kissed her smiling mouth.

"I'm really proud of you, Iris," He told her as he pulled away from the kiss, and she beamed.

"Come on, let's go back up to bed. You need sleep." Iris stood up and stretched out her arms with a yawn.

"I like my jumper on you," Charles laughed as she began to push his wheelchair back towards the school, "You should wear it more often."

"Ha!" Iris scoffed, "Good morning class, yes I'm wearing the Professor's clothes – it's because he likes how I look in them."

"Yeah..." Charles paused, "Perhaps that wouldn't go down so well."

Iris laughed quietly as they made their way down the corridor, and he closed his eyes, revelling in the sound of her laughter, her closeness – and most importantly, her happiness.

*

The sun was beginning to set, bathing the kitchen in a warm orange glow. Iris leant over the sink and pushed the window open to let some fresh air in. Her and Erik had been cooking together all afternoon, preparing for a memorial dinner they were having with Raven, Charles, and Hank for Alex.

The funeral had been a few days before, and Scott had insisted that they all be there, even if his parents didn't know who they were. Jean had been there too, and Iris had spotted Jean reach out and take hold of Scott's hand in the middle of the service when he'd begun to cry.

Hank had suggested that the five of them have the memorial dinner alone, as they'd known Alex in a very different way to his other friends and family. He'd been their friend and teammate. They'd trained and fought beside him.

"Are we almost ready?" Iris asked Erik as her eyes scanned the food they'd prepared.

Erik nodded with a smile, swinging a tea towel over his shoulder, "We make quite the team."

Iris laughed and made her way out to the dining room to tell Hank to set the table, before darting upstairs to get changed.

Charles was asleep on the bed, his arm stretched out onto her side. She paused and watched him for a moment with a small smile. The voices were still bothering him slightly, and so she'd told him to take a nap before they ate. Now, he looked peaceful. She hated to wake him up.

She reached and brushed her hand gently against his cheek, "Charles, dinner's almost ready."

He stirred, and a smile appeared on his face.

"I love waking up to the sound of your voice."

Iris felt herself smile as she rifled through her wardrobe and picked out a dark red dress. She got changed into it quickly, and released her hair from the ponytail it had been in all afternoon, allowing it to cascade down her back. When she turned around to ask Charles if he was ready, she caught him watching her in silence.

"Is something the matter?" She asked, taking a step towards him.

He smiled and shook his head slowly, "You're beautiful, Iris."

He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and for a moment the two of them studied one another's face. Iris ducked down and kissed his forehead.

"We ought to go downstairs," She told him with a smile, pretending to ignore the way his eyes were following her, "The others will think we're up to no good."

"Nothing wrong with that," Charles raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

Iris looked back at him and rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face.

"Charles..."

He simply beamed back at her as he reached over for his suit jacket.

They made their way downstairs, and Hank and Raven were already seated at the table, chatting quietly, while Erik brought the food in.

"Erik!" Raven called out, "This food looks amazing!"

Erik beamed, but when he caught Iris' gaze he cleared his throat, "Well, I can't take all of the credit. Iris had been helping me all afternoon."

"Thank you, Erik, for remembering that small detail." Iris shot back with a grin as she seated herself beside Charles. Erik brought in the last of the food and sat down with them, and there was a slight pause. Hank reached for his wine glass and held it up.

"Shall we toast? To Alex?"

They all reached for their glasses.

"To Alex," Charles murmured, "Our friend, our teammate, but most importantly – our family. We met Alex at a time when many of us felt uncertain in our lives. Some of us were scared, alone, or didn't even know what we were. When we started training together, we didn't just become a team, we became something more. Alex represents that for all of us, because he managed to bring joy to us and make us laugh when we felt like we couldn't. He will never be forgotten. To Alex."

They all clinked glasses and took a sip from their drinks. There was a moment of silence, where the five of them sat and thought about Alex Summers. Iris reached out and squeezed Charles' hand on the table beside her.

Raven smiled, "Hey Hank, do you remember the time when Alex destroyed that statue in the CIA building?"

Hank laughed, turning to the others, "He kept telling us to hide behind the wall, but we were too keen to witness the action. We were in pretty big trouble after it happened, but you guys should have seen it."

Iris hesitated, before focusing her gaze on Hank and accessing the memory, projecting it where all of them could see it.

The sight of Alex, Hank and Raven so young started Iris slightly. It was odd how much time had passed since they were first all recruited, and how much things had changed.

The five of them laughed as they watched Alex chop the statue in half with a grin on his face. It was so typical of Alex – to always be smiling, even if he was destroying government property.

For the rest of the evening, as they ate their meal, Iris shared everyone's favourite memories of Alex. They watched, and talked, and laughed, with sad smiles on their faces. He hadn't been a constant in any of their lives, but they all knew that they would miss him terribly.

Alex Summers had been the one to always make them laugh. He was gone, but now they held the memories of him. Sitting at that table, it almost felt like it had been twenty years ago.

They'd fought, and they'd lost people, and they'd experienced pain and suffering – but they had each other.

Charles was right – they were a family.

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