Fate decides who comes into your life; your heart decides who stays.
"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐼𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑."
[X-Men: First Class - X-Men Apo...
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The voices are just too much. He should've drowned them out years ago, and he should've drowned them out today yet again, but Logan had reignited Charles' stupid hope, not that hope helped find Raven. All he did was blow out the power, making Cerebro useless, just like him.
Is this what Ria hinted at all those years ago? How dangerous telepathy can be? He's thought of her words for years, especially when it first got bad as the war began, but this is excruciating.
"I'll go check the generator," Hank mutters before escaping out the door to leave Charles alone with Logan.
"It's not the machinery, is it?" Logan asks from behind him.
Charles shakes his head. "I can't do this. My mind—"
"Yes, you can."
"No...it won't take it."
"You're just a little rusty."
"You don't understand! It's not a question of being rusty," Charles snaps. "I can flip the switches, I can turn the knobs, but my power comes from here." He points to his useless head before his shaking hand pauses over his chest. "It comes from... and it's broken. I feel like one of my students. Helpless." He wheels his chair down the walkway, saying, "It was a mistake coming down here. It was a mistake freeing Erik. This whole thing has been one bloody mistake."
"I doubt Ria thinks that way," Logan says, but he isn't listening.
"I'm sorry, Logan, but they sent back the wrong man."
"You're right. I am."
Charles pauses only inches from the door out.
"Actually, it was supposed to be you." Logan follows him, waving his arms about as if this were all a game. "But I was the only one who could physically make the trip. And, uh, I don't know how long I've got here, but I do know that a long time ago—actually, a long time from now—I was your most helpless student." Logan rests his palms against the chair. "You unlocked my mind. You showed me what I was. You showed me what I could be. I don't know how to do that for you. You're right, I don't, but I know someone who might. Look into my mind."
Charles scoffs. "You saw what I did to Cerebro." Burned it from the inside out. He felt the machine screaming out in pain as he did. "You don't want me inside your head."
"There's no damage you can do that hasn't already been done, trust me. Come on."
Against all reason, Charles cannot stop the curiosity swimming in his mind. That is what makes him reach forward, and nothing else—to see if he is the same person from years ago. Images of pain and tragic love flash in his mind, and people he has never met but knows he will fill his vision. "Oh, you poor, poor man," Charles whispers.
