"Where's Iris?" Hank asked as the group of mutants and Moira sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Iris' seat was empty. It had been for two days.

Silence followed, and everyone looked at Charles. He put his glass down, closing his eyes, "She's going through a difficult time at the moment- she doesn't feel up to training."

Alex looked up, "Did you unlock all of her memories of her powers?"

Slowly, Charles nodded, and the others all looked down at the table, wondering what it could have been that had caused Iris, the energetic girl that they had met just over a week ago, to not leave her bedroom.

When they left the kitchen, dispersing and preparing to train for the day, Erik followed Charles out onto the gravel path outside the front of the house.

"What did you find out? You and Iris?" He asked, and Charles leant against the fence, shaking his head.

"Sebastian Shaw discovered her ability when she was young and took her away from her parents, training her up into a weapon that could be used against his enemies. His final... 'test' was to show how powerful she was to her parents. But she had made a promise years ago to her parents that she would not be used as a weapon, and she kept to her promise, realising what she had become. Shaw killed her parents."

Erik lowered his head in shock, turning away so that Charles could not see his expression.

"She is just as damaged as the rest of us," Erik shook his head, "I thought... I thought that perhaps her ability would show itself and that as she had no recollection of it, it would provide no distractions when fighting. But now she has... this."

Charles closed his eyes, "Now I know why she's so good with a punch bag. She was trained not just to use her ability but to fight. She was weaponised. Shaw experimented on her, almost tortured her to the point where she had no idea who she was anymore until she saw her parents again."

Erik sighed, "Charles... she's not going to fight with us now, not unless you speak to her. If you can get through to her and help her to start training again- there could still be hope for her. Shaw would have blocked her powers for a reason- because she was powerful."

"I feel like I should have left her in that coffee shop," Charles whispered, "I've damaged her more than I've helped her to discover her power."

"Then change that," Erik finally turned back to face his friend, "Help her."

*

The forest was beautiful at any time during the day, and as Iris pushed leaves and branches aside, she felt the calmest she had felt in the past two days. She leant against one of the trees, playing with the scarf looped loosely around her neck and taking a deep breath.

"The forest has a certain solitude to it, don't you think?"

Iris recognised Charles' voice but did not turn around. She gulped anxiously, squeezing her eyes shut to push away the memories that Charles had helped her discover.

"I should have become the weapon that Shaw wanted me to become. I should have gone against my parents, even if it wasn't what they wanted."

Charles' voice was soft, "It was over ten years ago, Iris. You cannot change the past. But what you can do is feel confident that, in the end, you did what your parents desired most."

"Am I not just becoming a weapon in the end, though? Working with you to fight Shaw- you and Erik are just using me as a weapon." Iris spoke bitterly, and at this Charles stepped forwards, pulling on her hand to spin her around to face him.

"We are not using you as a weapon, Iris. We are not using you at all. What we are doing is working with you to defeat our enemy. And you are becoming a fighter, not a weapon. We would never do that."

Iris opened her eyes slowly, staring in silence at Charles' worried expression. She almost wanted to reach out and smooth out the lines on his forehead, but something told her not to. She turned away from his piercing blue gaze.

"I don't want to be a monster like Shaw."

"Then become the person who fights monsters like him, and help all of us to become a better team. You must be powerful, Iris. More powerful than you can possibly imagine, and we need you."

"How do you know that you need me?" She whispered, the breeze ruffling her dark hair.

Charles glanced at the floor, "Because everyone noticed that you were missing, and how quiet the mansion was. And our team isn't working well together just yet. We need one final ingredient. That's you."

Iris appeared startled, and as she made eye contact with Charles, the forest around them darkened to show the grey room that the two of them had seen several days before, a younger version of Iris standing in the middle with her back to them, breathing heavily.

Iris stared at herself in shock and blinked furiously, causing the image to fade away and leaving them in the forest again.

She looked up at the sky before turning to face Charles again.

"The past is the past."

Slowly, he reached out and squeezed her hand, "And now we look to the future."

*

Iris and Charles sat on a blanket in the middle of the empty room that they had been using the week before to unlock her memories. They were both cross-legged, sitting less than half a metre apart.

"You ready?" Charles' voice was quiet, and Iris nodded slowly. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pictured the forest that she had spent the morning in.

When her eyes opened, she was surrounded by trees and leaves and sunlight-

The image faded, and the room returned. Charles shook his head, "I didn't see anything. Did you?"

"I'll try again," Her voice was soft, and she shut her eyes again. When she opened her eyes this time, the forest flickered for an even shorter time around her. Charles still couldn't see it.

"Look at me." He kept his blue eyes steady, his expression unreadable, "Look at me and picture the forest. Don't close your eyes."

Taking a deep breath, Iris followed his instructions. His eyes were so blue, so powerful, she didn't want to look away. She almost didn't notice that the forest had appeared around the two of them, not until she heard Charles' intake of breath.

They were sitting beneath the trees, the leaves causing the shadows on the grass beneath them to dance. Charles' face lit up, and he let out a surprised laugh.

"Iris-"

Hearing his laugh caused her to chuckle in response, and the image fell away.

"That is amazing," Charles whispered, shaking his head in wonder.

Iris showed him the forest again, and could feel her cheeks flush as Charles looked at the area around them in wonder.

"Hold my hands," Iris spoke softly, and Charles gave her a questioning glance before reaching forwards and gripping onto both her hands.

She found his steady blue eyes and created a new image around them, one much darker than even the room was. Charles waited for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, he froze.

They were surrounded by the starry night sky, and it wasn't just above them but all around them. They appeared to be sitting in midair, surrounded by bright white balls of light which twinkled and pulsated, reflecting in Charles' wide eyes and causing him to look even more amazed by the image.

"This is beautiful," He whispered softly, staring at the stars and letting go of Iris' hands as he reached out to touch one of them.

When he turned to face her again, he shook his head slowly, "This is such an amazing gift, Iris. You are so powerful."

A shooting star soared above their heads, and the two of them began to laugh, watching as it circled them, leaving a trail of light behind it.

"Are you two coming down for dinner?"

Erik's voice sounded bored and uninterested from somewhere nearby, and neither Charles nor Iris could see him.

"Erik, you simply have to see this!" Charles shouted, and Erik frowned, "What on earth are you talking about?"

Charles nodded at Iris once before she closed her eyes, reaching out for Erik and showing him the image as well. He appeared a couple of metres away from them, surrounded by the same stars that appeared above their heads.

He shouted, losing his balance and falling to the floor. Iris opened her eyes and shook her head with a laugh, "It's an illusion, Erik. You can feel the floor beneath you, can't you? You're not really surrounded by the stars."

Erik steadied himself, glancing around in amazement.

"You can do this?"

She nodded slowly, reaching out to hold onto Charles as she let the illusion fade away and the room surrounded them once more.

"And I think that there's more."