Thank you so much for all the positive responses! I truly wasn't expecting such warm reviews.


Chapter 2

The first thing Charles noticed when he regained consciousness was that he was lying in a bed; a warm, comfortable bed. Everything seemed too damn quiet for his liking. He began to stretch out using his telepathy; a desperate attempt to latch onto someone's mind. Silence. Dammit. Protesting against his throbbing head, he sat up slowing, feeling that he wasn't being restrained in any way. Charles realised that his yellow suit had been removed and now lay over the back of a chair to his right. His chest was bare and a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms occupied his bottom half. Strange. The room he was locked in was relatively small and empty; no furniture apart from the bed he was lying in, a table and chair to the right. Whoever had designed the room, obviously had a fetish for black décor. A wave of nausea suddenly rushed through him and Charles had to throw his hand over his mouth to prevent him from throwing up. Of course: the baby. How could Charles have forgotten? Gingerly, he moved his hand down to his abdomen, where a slight bump was starting to develop. Fear suddenly washed over him when the sound of the door opening echoed throughout the empty room, a man in a helmet entering. Charles rubbed his abdomen as Shaw strode in and took a standing position at the end of the bed.

"I trust you slept well," the man said, staring at Charles intensely.

The telepath didn't reply.

"Oh, come now, Charles," Shaw teased, "after my generous hospitality, is that anyway to thank me?"

Charles scowled. "Thank you? One does not thank their kidnapper."

"Don't be like that, we're going to have lots of fun together. It will be painless, I can assure you, but only if you cooperated and do things my way."

Although Shaw had the helmet on, Charles could see in the man's cold eyes that he meant to use the baby and turn it into some sort of weapon of mass destruction. He wouldn't allow that to happen. He had to try and escape somehow. The door was on the other side of the room, and Shaw was still stood towering over him.

"I know what you're thinking, Charlie, and you can forget any thoughts of trying to escape." Before Charles would protest, Shaw was leaning on top of him, pressing a finger to the telepath's temple. A quick flash of stored energy was released, knocking Charles out cold.

X...X

Everything seemed to have happened in a blur after the beach. Erik wasn't convinced that any of it was reality. Moira, much to her dislike, had managed to contact one of her CIA associates who'd sent back-up to rescue them. In the helicopter, Erik sat staring out of the window whilst the other began to whisper amongst themselves. No doubt about him and Charles being together. Raven, on the other hand, gripped his hand tightly, caressing it with her thumb. Erik knew she was only being caring but he didn't want that right not. He was desperate to being his search for Shaw and find Charles...and their child. It felt so joyous to think that he and the telepath were going to be parents but that happy thought was soon swept away by the thought of Shaw torturing Charles in order to get their child. No doubt it would be a mutant and no doubt Shaw would use its power against the World. No, Erik simply would not allow that to happen.

Now back in the Xavier mansion, Erik sat alone in Charles' study, all the recent newspapers scattered around the desk. His eyebrows were knitted furiously together as he picked through every article, searching for any clue that would lead him to Herr Doktor. He'd been searching for hours and no leads had presented themselves to him yet. Erik sighed solemnly, as he stood from the desk and, with a flick of his wrist, the door opened for him. He didn't know where he was walking to and, quite frankly, he didn't care. He desperately needed to find Charles but there were just no clues anywhere as to where Shaw would take him.

God dammit think, Erik. Think!

The metal manipulator had walked downstairs into the main living room, finding Hank and Raven sat watching something on the TV set.

"Erik," Raven said, "I think you need to see this."

He moved to sit next to her on the sofa and listened to the news report.

BREAKING NEWS: The covert CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia has been destroyed. It is believed to have been an arson attack, with the perpetrator setting the building ablaze after breaking one of the mutant prisoners out. It is unclear of who is to blame yet certain governments are almost convinced that the new societies of mutants are behind the attack. We will keep you up to date with this news story.

Erik blinked. Shaw. It had to be: he had obviously broken Emma Frost out of her cell to use her against Charles. He stood up furiously and began to storm to the door when Raven stopped him.

"Erik, wait! Charging to the scene of the crime isn't going to work. You'll get the blame!"

"There could be clues there as to where Shaw is holding Charles."

Hank stood moved to stand with Raven. "She's right, Erik. The place will be swarming with police officers and journalists. Its far too dangerous."

The metal manipulator glared at them.

"Then we're coming with you!" Raven's toned of voice suddenly became sharper.

"No," Erik said calmly, "I won't allow you to. I have to consider what Charles would want and I know he wouldn't want either of you to get hurt."

With that, Erik stormed upstairs to his room, grabbed his readily-packed briefcase and set off for Virginia before anyone had time to stop him. He prayed this trip would have more of a positive outcome than a negative one.