Iris began to stir at the sound of voices and movement in the mansion. As she opened her eyes, she realised that her head was laying on Charles' chest, and the two of them were curled up on the rug in the living room.

She felt indescribably happy for a moment, and longed to stay there forever with Charles.

"Iris! Charles! Where are you?"

Reality suddenly slapped Iris around the face as she remembered what was to happen today. They were going to face Shaw. Her happiness seemed to seep away, and she felt a sense of dread settle in her chest.

Charles began to wake up beneath her, and he silently reached out and held onto her hand.

"Has anyone found us yet?" He murmured quietly, and she shook her head.

"I suppose we should get up," She whispered, "Before they do."

The two of them got up slowly, and Charles muttered, "I'll make sure no one comes this way while you go up and grab something to wear."

"My knight in shining armour," Iris smiled slightly, leaning up to kiss him before darting out of the room and up the stairs.

Once she had showered and pulled on some clothes, she made her way back down into the kitchen for breakfast.

"There you are!" Raven called out, "I was beginning to wonder what you and Charles were up to."

Iris barely had time to register that Raven was in her natural blue form as Charles closed the fridge door and asked, "Just what are you implying, Raven?"

Iris felt her cheeks flush, and she turned away from Raven to conceal the smile on her face.

"We can't hang around for too long," Moira told her, "We don't want to be late."

"Absolutely fine," Iris smiled, grabbing an apple and taking a bite from it, "How did everyone sleep?"

Only Alex and Sean seemed to have had a good rest, everyone else seemed stressed or distracted.

Charles slid onto the seat beside Iris and asked where Hank was. Everyone muttered that they had no idea, and Iris felt her skin prickle with worry. Charles, sensing her fear, reached out and covered her hand with his own, "I'm sure he's sorting out the plane. No need to worry."

Iris glanced over at Erik, who had been wordless all morning. He was staring into the distance, his expression unreadable. Iris didn't have to be a telepath to know that he was thinking about Shaw.

Shaw's name caused her chest to feel tight. She hated him more than she could even imagine, but she feared him as well. What he had done to her all those years ago- could he do it again?

As her thoughts flickered to her parents again, the kitchen seemed to darken for a split-second.

No, she told herself, Not now. She was squeezing the apple so tightly she thought it would explode, and she was no longer conscious of the people around her. She just didn't want to think about Shaw. Not if her powers were going to spiral out of control.

"Iris," A soothing voice whispered, startling her enough to drop the apple.

Everyone else had left the kitchen apart from Charles, who was facing her with wide, worried eyes.

"Sorry," She shook her head, "I, I was-"

"Thinking about Shaw," Charles murmured, "I know. It's okay, Iris. We will deal with him. You don't have to see him today if you don't want to, not if it's going to upset you."

Iris pushed herself up from the chair and stood up quickly, "Charles- he terrifies me. I'm worried that something could happen to me, that he could try and control me again, and I'm worried that he'll try to wipe my memory again."

"Iris-" Charles started to protest, standing up to face her.

"I'm worried that you'll get hurt! I don't want anything to happen to you!" Iris cried out, and Charles stopped.

"Hey," He whispered, "You don't need to worry about me. I just need to know that you're okay to go out there and fight with us."

Slowly, Iris began to nod, "I will. I'll be fine."

Charles' ocean eyes softened, and he leant forwards and kissed her on the forehead.

"We're in this together, Iris. You're not alone."

His touch comforted her, but she could not shake the sense of dread that had settled in her chest earlier that morning. Somehow, she doubted it would go away until the fight was over.

Even then- they had no idea if they were going to win.

*

"Where's Hank?" Raven asked, but no one answered.

All of them, minus Hank, were standing by the plane in the gear that he had designed for them. The yellow and black design was something that none of them had been keen on, and Iris was uncomfortable with the tightness of the fabric- it was a different style to the clothes that she usually wore.

When they had gone to pick up the gear, Iris had been shocked at the state of the lab. It had been absolutely destroyed, and there seemed to be no explanation for it. The only link that there seemed to be was Hank's absence. Iris wondered where on earth he could be.

"I'm here," Hank called out from the opposite end of the room. Iris squinted, not quite recognising the figure walking towards them. As he got closer, she realised that it was Hank, but covered in blue fur.

"Hank?" Charles asked in confusion, and Hank lowered his head.

"It didn't attack the cells. It enhanced them. It... didn't work."

Raven shook her head, stepping forwards, "Yes it did, Hank. Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be. This is you. No more hiding."

Iris watched as Hank's expression seemed to soften, but then Erik muttered, "Never looked better man."

Suddenly, Hank's arm shot out and he lifted Erik up by the neck, tightening his grip slowly.

"Hank!" Iris shouted, rushing forwards.

"Don't mock me," Hank hissed.

Charles gulped, "Hank, put him down immediately, please!"

"Hank!" Iris shouted, "Don't be ridiculous. If we're going to fight Shaw, we need all of us alive."

Hank finally dropped Erik, who looked up at him bitterly, "I wasn't."

Alex grinned, "Even I've got to admit, you look pretty bad-ass. I think I've got a new name for you. Beast."

"You're sure you can fly this thing?" Charles asked, and Hank grunted.

"Of course I can. I designed it."

They made their way towards the plane and climbed up the stairs quickly. They strapped themselves in carefully, and Iris felt her heart flutter with nerves. She suddenly felt so incredibly unprepared for this, but there was no turning back now.

She couldn't avoid Shaw forever.

*

The plane was hovering above the sea, close to where the cargo ships were making their way towards Cuba.

"It looks pretty messy out there," Hank murmured, and Charles lifted his fingers to his temples quickly, trying to find out what was going on.

"The crew of the Aral Sea are all dead. Shaw's been there."

Erik shook his head, "He's still here, somewhere."

"He set the ship on course for the embargo line." Charles whispered, and Moira swore.

"If that ship crosses the line, our boys are going to blow it up. And the war begins."

Iris felt her heart twist with fear, but she kept her mouth shut.

Charles sat up suddenly, "Unless they're not our boys."

Iris shared a confused glance with Raven, but when Charles pressed his fingers to his temple once again she understood what he was about to do. She leant over to the window, and watched as one of the Russian ships fired upon the Aral Sea. She let out a breath she didn't realise that she'd been holding.

"That was inspired, Charles." Moira smiled.

Charles' eyes lit up, "Thank you very much. But I still can't locate Shaw."

Iris shook her head, "He has to be down there somewhere. He'll want to be right in the middle of the action. But he'll be hiding. Hank, can you see anything on the radar? Anything odd?"

Hank and Moira both checked it and shook their heads silently, and he sighed, "Well, then he must be underwater. And obviously we don't have sonar."

Sean suddenly sat up beside Iris, "Yes, we do!"

"Yes we do!" Charles shouted, "Come on!"

Sean unbuckled himself from his seat and rushed forwards. Charles and Erik stood on either side of him, preparing him to go down underwater.

"Remember," Charles told him, "This is a muscle. You control it. You'll be in here the entire time!" He tapped his head quickly.

Sean nodded quickly, and Charles grinned, "We'll see you soon! On my mark! Three, two, one! Go!"

They all waited apprehensively for a result, and Iris heard a high pitched scream before Sean dived into the water. A few moments later, Charles leapt forwards.

"Banshee has a location on Shaw!"

Erik and Charles exchanged a glance, and communicated silently. Erik was going to lift the submarine out of the water.

He jumped down quickly, and Charles asked him quietly, "Are you ready for this?"

Erik shrugged, "Let's find out."

Iris watched out of the window as the sea seemed to shift, and the submarine began to appear from the water. A moment later, there was a bang, and the plane and the submarine both hurtled towards the sandy surface of a Cuban beach.

Iris screamed as the plane crashed to the ground, and she hung upside down from her chair. The seatbelt had kept her secure, luckily.

Charles ran towards her, "Iris! Are you alright?"

She nodded quickly, unbuckling herself and allowing Charles to help her down. She did the same for Raven and Moira.

"You're bleeding," Charles murmured, and Iris lifted a finger to her scalp where something warm and wet had formed.

"It's nothing," She whispered, "It doesn't hurt. Come on, we have to hurry."

Charles hesitated for a moment, "Sit down for a moment, you're in shock," He turned to the others, "I read the teleporter's mind. Shaw is drawing all of the power out of his sub. He's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb."

Iris swore, and Charles inhaled deeply, "This is what we're going to do. Moira, get on the radio and tell them to clear both fleets out immediately."

Erik stepped forwards, "I'm going in."

Charles nodded, "Beast, Havok, back him up. Erik, I can guide you through once you're in, but I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me. Then we just hope to God it's not too late for me to stop him."

They made their way towards the submarine, and Iris watched as Raven tried to follow them. Charles shook his head, "Raven, stop!"

"I'm going with them."

Charles groaned, "We don't have time for this. If anything comes in that entrance, you're taking care of it, yes?"

"Fine," Raven muttered. Iris felt like a spare part sitting down watching the action unfold, but she felt oddly light-headed.

Suddenly, she heard Charles shout out, "Erik! He's gone. He's gone into the void. I can't communicate with him there."

Iris sat up, ignoring her light-headedness as she rushed forwards, "I'll go and find him. I'll try and break the walls of this void, whatever it is, so that maybe you can reach him."

"Iris- you can't go. Don't-" Charles began, but Iris spun around, cutting him off.

"Charles- I need to. Erik might not do what is right- Shaw could easily twist things." She took a deep breath, hoping that Charles would understand her request.

He stared at her for a moment, "I can't stop you from doing what you want to do. Don't let Shaw get into you head either, Iris."

Quickly, he leant forwards and brought his lips down upon hers. She lingered there for a moment, savouring the kiss before pulling away reluctantly.

"You'll see me later," She smiled, "And you can stay with me in here." She tapped the side of her head with two fingers before turning on her heel and walking away from Charles towards the submarine.

*

Charles had been guiding Iris through the submarine when he had suddenly felt Erik's thoughts return to his head.

"Iris!" He shouted, "I'm getting Erik back!"

He locked onto Erik's thoughts and tried to listen to the conversation.

Shaw was standing there, wearing the helmet that seemed to block Charles' powers. He was speaking to Erik, trying to tell him his plan and how it would work.

Erik hissed, "How can you do all of this? What you did to my mother, what you did to Iris' parents...?"

Shaw seemed to freeze, and he looked up, "Iris? Iris Miracle? How do you know about that?"

Erik smirked, "We found her. Unlocked everything."

Shaw raised an eyebrow, "Did you really unlock everything? My goodness, she was extremely powerful. And I doubt she even remembers half of what her abilities are. That time when she was weaponised, she was barely herself. It will be extremely hazy for her- she won't be able to remember the true extent of her powers."

Erik frowned, "What else can she do? Tell me."

Charles felt dread settle in his chest. Something was wrong.

"Many things," Shaw murmured, "But one of the most fascinating ones was her ability to send people back into their worst memories forever. They would disappear from this dimension, and would be eternally stuck in that memory."

Charles stopped breathing.

So did Erik.

"What?" He asked, "How is that possible?"

Shaw laughed, "Iris Miracle is infinitely impossible."

Charles felt his mind slip away from Erik's involuntarily. He was suddenly terrified for Iris, for what she could do. What if she could send people back by accident?

He steadied himself, reaching out for Iris' mind.

"Iris," He murmured, "Don't go in there."

"What's the password?" She shouted, "I'm at the door. I need to get in. I have a feeling that Shaw is going to talk Erik around to his way of thinking."

Charles leant his head against the wall of the ship, "Iris, please-"

"I need to hurry!" She cried out, "Charles, what's the matter?"

He inhaled deeply, and then he told her the password.