A.N.

So, a few months ago, it was announced that Rose Byrne was reprising her role of Moira MacTaggert for XM:A. I was ecstatic. I adore Rose Byrne, and Moira MacTaggert is probably my favorite female character in the X-Men franchise. Since I happen to be a massive fan of Sean Cassidy as well, and of the canon ship between Sean and Moira, I'm really hoping they give us a scene where Charles tells her about Sean's death, or she confronts Charles, or something to the effect. While my version has a very distinct romantic tilt to it, if they do it in the film, it doesn't even need to be shippy!

Anyway! Here's the story, and I hope you like it.

After the debacle in Washington, once Charles had pulled himself back together, he built a small cemetery not far from the mansion. It was a simple little thing - a few headstones to the mutants who had been lost to Trask's testing. The simplest stone had Sean's name carved into the granite. Over the years, new stones joined the old ones; a string of mutant directed hate crimes in the late seventies had a small column, the names of the dead written on each face, while a disastrous rescue mission in the mid-eighties held the names of four former students and a teacher.

When Erik and Charles fell back together after years of separation, Charles showed him the cemetery. One day, when Charles had been looking out his study window - he'd placed the graveyard within view of the glass pane in his office - he'd noticed the metal bender standing among the stones, weaving a monument out of metal bars. By the time Charles had made it out to the graveyard, his lover had finished the metal statue. Charles had stood quietly with Erik. The next day, he'd had a stone erected for Edie and Jakob Lehnsherr, along with another stone for Magda and Anya.

That had been around five years ago, and now mutant-kind was facing a new threat. What Apocalypse was doing... it was horrific. While Charles had been hesitant to do what Hank suggested, he finally agreed that restoring Moira's memories and asking for her help was the best thing to do.

The mind reader had been surprised by how easy it had been to convince the CIA agent turned doctor to help Charles. He'd been able to sense an excitement in his old friend, but Moira had been able to hid her exact thoughts from him.

It wasn't until she was sitting by the window in his study, looking out at the graveyard, that he realized where the hope had stemmed from.

"Where's Sean?" She murmured, not looking away from the window. Charles was sitting at his desk, a report from Armando sitting on his desk; Alex and Armando had been assigned to searching for clues among the various extremist groups. Moira's words caused Charles to turn his attention to her.

"I... thought you knew. Know that I think about it, that was a foolish thought - who would have possibly told you..."

"He's dead, isn't he?" Moira whispered, the cloudy sky matching her stormy expression.

"And he's why you agreed to come back, isn't he?" Charles asked, rolling his wheelchair towards his friend.

Moira scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. There's much more to it than just Sean. I... Lost a part of myself when you cleared my memories. No, not lost it... You stole it. And, after a few years, Sean somehow found me." Charles knew that he was projecting his emotions, the surge of nervousness running through his veins. "Oh, don't worry Charles. He wasn't stupid enough to tell me what you did. He came to me as a friend from the months that disappeared - someone I had met in a coffee shop near the school. He wasn't able to explain anything that happened during the missing months. He was... just a a friendly ear at first. Listened to my complaints regarding the CIA, then medical school... He was sweet."

"You fell in love..." Charles murmured, his voice taking on a knowing air.

Moira glared at Charles. "Don't give me that. You don't know me, Charles. The fact that you washed my memories proves that; anyone who really knew me would never have felt the need to do so. I'm sure you've noticed that my mental blocks are better than the average human's. A little training from you and my mind could have been impossible to crack. You just didn't want to spare the time.

"I do love him. When he disappeared on our second anniversary, I knew something had happened to him. I thought - hell, I'd hoped - that he'd just gotten cold feet. I'd seen the ring he'd been carrying around for a few months; he wasn't nearly as covert as he liked to pretend he was. I'm actually kind of surprised he managed to keep our relationship from you."

Charles coughed, not letting on that the reason Sean had managed to hide his feelings for the former CIA agent was because Charles had fallen into a hole to deep to just climb out of.

Moira harshly wiped the tears from her cheeks, giving Charles a small smile. "He mentioned that he had a friend who was going through an awful time." Charles felt like flinching - the idea of being the subject of Sean and Moira's pillow talk was not a pleasant one. "At the time, I didn't remember you, so I couldn't make the connection. But know...

"I don't blame you," she continued, gently placing her hand on Charles' shoulder. "Don't get me wrong; I'd love to do so. But, it's too easy - and, more importantly, not what Sean would have wanted. He would want me to smile when I remember him, think of our good times together. He was a hippie ahead of his time. I was always surprised I didn't catch him burning my bra for me..." Moira gave a sad chuckle, before falling into a comfortable silence. "Is it alright if... If I visit his stone?"

Charles gave a quiet nod, staying silent as Moira left the study. A few minutes later, Charles saw the brunette hair now streaked with grey move towards the cemetery. The mind read watched as the woman knelt in front of Sean's grave, running her fingers across the name carved into the stone.

Charles let his eyes clench shut. Moira might not have blamed him, but Charles still felt the guilt.