-Four-

"Charles! What happened yesterday? We were worried sick about you!"

The concern for his safety seemed much less surprising coming from Mystique (or Raven as he still preferred to call her) than it had from Erik. Charles frowned and chewed his lip as he considered how much to tell her. He didn't really know, well, anything about what was going on. A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up.

"I'm worried about you. You know you can tell me anything, right? Even if it's about your nightmares, or your parents, or us…" She gestured to indicate the mansion where their motley crew of separatist mutants had chosen to make their home. "Or even if you're having… girl problems…" A slight smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth. She was constantly teasing him about his methods and forever changing theories regarding the 'getting of girls' as he liked to put it. If only his current issues were ones of such frivolity, he thought wistfully.

"No but seriously, Charles. Talk to me. We might be able to help. Is it the nightmares? Erik says they've been getting worse."

He nodded slowly. After a long pause he said "I don't think they're nightmares."

The blue-skinned girl in front of him frowned. "What do you mean? They're real?" She sounded sceptical.

"I've never had nightmares like this before. I've never really had nightmares full stop. There's not much I need to be afraid of that I can't solve with my mind." He tapped his temple. "And I know we've been through a lot with the whole 'almost-starting-a-world-war' thing, but the thing is," and his face took on a deeply unsettled expression, "something about that isn't right in my head. There are parts of that fight that I don't remember well. Something happened to me on that carrier."

Raven's expression softened. "That day was tough on all of us but especially tough on you. You were absolutely shattered by the end of it. It's okay to not recall everything perfectly when you're in situations like that."

"No, you don't understand. This doesn't happen to me. I don't lose things like I would if I had a normal, disorganised mind, and my mind doesn't work against me for my own safety. It doesn't work the same way for me. I've been thinking and thinking, and I can't remember how war was averted. I don't remember any detail."

"But what is there to remember? We stopped the guys meddling in the politics of the world. There was no reason to start a war between two countries that were both being played by a meddling maniac."

It was common sense. It made perfect sense. But he couldn't remember it. "Anyway, the main focus of these dreams was that I was being chased by something that could find me, and hurt me, in my mind. It whispers into my head, closer and closer as I run." She nodded. He had told her this before. "Only now, it's not just happening in dreams. The whispers, they're chasing me when I'm awake now. It's like they were always there, just out of the corner of my perception. But yesterday in the meeting…" he chewed his lip at the uncomfortable memory. He could still feel the fear lurking in the pit of his stomach. Fear of the unknown. "The man who questioned me, I reached out to touch his mind and they were there, the whispers, they were waiting for me." His eyes were wide and bright as he recalled the moment.

The girl looked concerned now. "Do people's minds not normally whisper to you?"

He shook his head. "This was not his mind. This was them, something else, not human and not mutant."

She frowned. "So they were in his head? Just his?"

Charles shook his head again. "I heard them again just now when I spoke to Erik. I wasn't even trying to read him but… I could hear them there. Calling me."

Her eyes shot open. "In Erik's…? What about mine? Do you hear them now?"

"I don't read you, Raven." He said simply. He always kept his promises.

"But you weren't trying to read Erik…"

"You're not like Erik, you keep your thoughts to yourself." It came out a bit sharper than he had intended, and he laughed nervously.

She raised her eyebrow to that. "I guess that's one thing that comes from growing up around a telepath. Maybe I should have a chat with Erik…?" She probed with more than a hint of amusement in her tone.

"No, no its fine!" He exclaimed hastily. "It seems I just have to be more careful than usual around him right now."

She nodded and looked thoughtful. Then "What are you going to do about this?"

Charles let out his breath in a heavy sigh. That was the million dollar question. "I don't know." He admitted. "They feel dangerous. They're messing with my head and I'm not comfortable actively trying to learn more about them but…" He left the rest hanging. He didn't want to think about the daunting prospects he could be faced with. Not yet…

Raven nodded and got up to go, realising that Charles had said all he was going to. "Keep me up to date. I want to help if I can. If this is a threat to you, it could be a threat to all of us. I want to know what you're facing."

He nodded and she headed for the door. She paused in the doorway. "You should talk to Erik about this, too."

He groaned. Erik was not likely to be understanding. He had made a scene at an important meeting and had apparently inadvertently kept him up half the night looking for him…

"Charles." Her voice was steely.

"…All right." He sighed. It was going to be a long day.