A/N: awesome day for me soooooooo I decided to post another chapter.

Chapter 10: Nightmares

"Don't let it control you" –Charles Xavier

The night came quicker than Charles had thought. By the time he had wandered out into the kitchen again, the children had already had dinner and Hank was washing the dishes.

"I was wondering where you were," Hank said drying his hands.

"I was thinking," Charles replied wheeling over and grabbing a banana from the basket.

Hank nodded, "Well, I showed Emily some of the rooms that the kids can sleep in. I gave her the room next to yours."

Charles hesitated. "Don't worry it's not Raven's room," Hank said sensing Charles's apprehension.

"Ah, thank you Hank,"

"I'm gonna go to bed, Alex and Sean are watching a movie. Good Night, Professor," Hank said walking out of the kitchen. Charles sighed; it seemed to be much later than he thought.

He finished his banana and followed Hank's lead. He hadn't done much today, but he was exhausted.

He headed to his bedroom and smiled; in the middle of his bed sat little Iris in a t-shirt that appeared to be Alex's. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and smiled at Charles.

"Its night-night time, Chawles," She said patting the bed.

Charles wheeled himself next to the bed and picked up his night pants.

"Well, let me go change into my pyjamas and I'll be right back," Charles said turning towards the bathroom. Iris wiggled further under the covers and waited patiently.

Charles found that he changed quite quickly this night.

"I told you I would be right back," Charles said scooting next to the bed. Iris yanked the covers back on Charles's spot. He smiled at her and hoisted himself out of the chair onto the bed.

The sheets were cold, yet comforting. Iris pulled the covers back up over Charles's legs and tucked him in.

"There! All set," she said returning to her original spot. Charles chuckled and began to settle down into the bed. He closed his eyes and felt Iris scoot closer.

She nuzzled Charles's shoulder and pulled his arm around her. Charles opened his eyes and looked down at the little girl in his arms. She had her eyes closed and a smile plastered on her face.

"Good Night, Iris," Charles whispered, pulling the covers up around her shoulder.

"Night, night, Chawles," Iris replied before sleep over took her.

Charles laid his head gently on top of Iris's and let the sleep take him as well.

Charles's eyes flew open. Iris was no longer next to him. He rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 2:30 am.

He sighed and closed his eyes once again. He heard a strange smacking noise and opened his eyes. He glanced over in the direction of the noise and saw that Iris was indeed still with him.

She had the covers balled up in her tiny fist; a smile on her perfect face. She looked so peaceful.

There was a pang in Charles's chest. He didn't understand why he felt so distressed while looking at Iris. The feeling grew stronger and his head began to throb.

Charles rubbed his temples and sat up. He pulled the covers off and slid himself into the wheelchair. 'Maybe I should have eaten some dinner,' he thought as he quietly wheeled out of the room, shutting the door behind him softly.

As he started down the hall, he paused at Emily's door. He heard a whimper from behind the door causing him to hesitate further. The noise didn't stop; instead it slowly became more distressed.

He knocked on the door, "Emily?"

There was no reply. Charles felt a searing pain rip through his brain causing him to gasp. Something was not right in that room.

Charles regained his composure quickly and entered the room. Emily was tossing and turning, the sheets clenched tightly in her hands.

Charles wheeled himself over to her bedside and reached out towards her, touching her arm. She jerked away groaning as if she were in intense pain. Charles began to panic. Emily had rolled over to the other side of the bed, her body tensing up, her whimpers becoming more panicked. He hoisted himself up onto the bed quickly and reached over towards Emily.

He wrapped his arms around her holding her still, despite her struggling against the embrace.

"Emily! Emily! Come on, dear, wake up," Charles said calmingly.

Sudden she stopped moving and gasped, her eyes shot open. She looked up at Charles and took in a few shaky breaths.

"Shhh, you're okay. I've got you," Charles whispered petting her head. Emily began to sob.

She buried herself into his arms and cried. Charles held her close and rocked her slightly. He shifted his hips to where Emily would be more comfortable, yet he had a feeling she didn't exactly care at this moment.

The two sat that way for quite sometime. Charles noticed Emily's sobbing had stopped. He looked down at her and saw she had fallen asleep again. He smiled and laid his head back against the pillows, closing his eyes again.

That last thing Charles remembered thinking was, 'She smells nice.'

The sun light had begun to creep in through the curtains when Charles woke up. Emily, however, was gone.

He rubbed his eyes and groaned as he pulled himself into the wheelchair. He found that Iris hadn't woken up yet when he reached his room. He smiled at her adorable sleeping form.

He quietly pulled out some clothes to wear and wheeled himself into the bathroom.

Charles looked into the mirror, examining himself. He looked older for some reason. He chuckled, 'I'm guess that's not too surprising based on what has happened over the past months.'

He ran a hand through his hair, fingering the graying strands at his hairline. There weren't that many, but enough to bother Charles slightly. He had been joking when he had said now he would go bald to Moira. Maybe there had been some truth behind it.

Charles looked away and began to undress, then redress himself. Once he had resituated himself, he exited the bathroom and found Iris missing.

He exited his room and found the smell of bacon wafting down the hall. He smiled, 'Hank is learning.'

"Well, Good Morning Professor!" Alex called from the table.

It wasn't just Alex sitting at the table. He was accompanied by Sean, Hudson, George, Christopher, Scott, and Iris.

Iris got up out her chair and ran towards Charles. She climbed up into his lap and hugged him around the neck then slid back down.

"Good Morning," Charles replied, chuckling slightly. He finally spotted Emily.

She was shuffling around in the kitchen, helping Hank with breakfast. She brought a plate of bacon and eggs over to the table and acknowledged Charles.

Iris still hadn't sat back down yet. She grabbed Charles by the hand and pulled him towards the table.

"Looks like you've got yourself a girlfriend," Sean laughed; his mouth full of bacon.

Charles flushed and pulled the plate of food towards him.

"Aw, you've embarrassed him, Banshee," Alex said in a mocking tone.

"Oh, be quiet and eat," Charles ordered.

Both boys laughed and continued to eat.

"Banshee? I thought his name was Sean?" Scott asked.

"Well, it is. We will explain that part later, all right?" Charles replied. Emily sat down next to Charles and began to eat.

Charles raised an eyebrow when glanced at Emily.

'Don't,' she warned in his mind.

'I just wanted to see if you were alright. Nothing more,' he replied, forking eggs into his mouth.

'I'll explain later,' she said looking down at her plate.

'Alright,' he replied sensing she was done.

"These are great, Hank," Charles said, smiling.

"Well, thank Emily for that one. She made those. I did the bacon," Hank replied, nodding towards Emily.

"Ah, well the bacon is good too. And thank you Emily," Charles said turning towards her.

"No problem,"

Breakfast was pretty quiet. Once the food had finally run out, the boy and Iris left the table. Charles offered to clear the table this time; Emily seconding the offer. Alex and Sean headed out the door closely followed by Christopher, George, Scott and Iris. Hank headed towards the lab, Hudson at his heals.

"Hudson seems to have taken a liking to Hank," Charles observed once it was just him and Emily.

"Hudson likes science. I think it has something to do with his mutation; the healing thing," Emily replied stacking up the dirty plates.

Charles stationed himself at the sink and took the on the job of scrubbing the plates.

"It's not a bad thing at all. If he is willing to learn, then he attached himself to the right person. I can tell Hank doesn't mind," Charles continued.

There was a moment of silence between the two. Emily stood next to him and dried the dishes.

"Thank you for last night," Emily said in a small voice.

"It's nothing. Everyone has nightmares," Charles replied.

"Yeah, I suppose," Emily mumbled.

Charles frowned slightly, "How often do these nightmares occur?"

"Too often," she replied.

Charles was silent. He was thinking about what to do.

"If you don't mind, I would like to see if I can help you. I have an idea. It worked for my sister so I believe it will work for you," Charles said.

"What exactly do you want to do?" she asked slowly.

Charles chuckled, "All I'm asking is you let me sit in your room for awhile tonight. When I believe you are having a nightmare, I'll stop it. It'll train your body to stop the nightmares."

"So you want to sleep with me?" she asked the corners of her mouthing pulling up.

Charles flushed a deep red; "Well, in a very, very, very disconnected way."

"If you so wish, Professor," Emily smirked, putting the last of the dishes away.

Charles hadn't even realized that she had been putting the dishes away. Emily began to walk out of the kitchen, but turned around.

She looked as if she were laughing to herself. "Charles?"

"Yes?"

"Pants stay on," she said stated, her smirk growing.

"If you so wish," he replied watching her leave. 'She isn't going to be good for me.'

A/N: Ok so the thing between charles and emily seems very sudden, but I picture charles as that person who no matter what would want to help. So him comforting Emily seemed logical.

Also, I would also like to say thank you for all the hits on this story. I really do appreciate it.