The journey from France to New York was time-consuming. Even with the Black Bird going at full speed, it still took entirely too long. It felt like an eternity to Raven. Every second, they stayed on the phone with Kitty, listening to her panicked breathing in the dark of the house, their imaginations running wild as they anticipated the horror that would await them there.

Kitty said that the bad men had shot everyone. That they weren't moving.

Emma had been trying to telepathically get in touch with anyone since they had gotten on the BlackBird, but she said she couldn't feel anyone, even Charles. Erik was sitting rigid in his seat, eyes staring out into the darkness of night. He was strung as tight a bowstring.

They remained silent the entire ride. Raven held Moira's phone in her hand, listening. Every few minutes, she would ask "Kitty, are you still there?" And Kitty would answer.

"Yes."

"Where's Professor?"

"Gone." and she would say no more than that. So Raven, too, stared outside and prayed more fervently than she ever had that a miracle might happen. Would she come home only to see her brother's broken, bleeding body lying next to Hank's? Had she lost everyone?

In the beginning, they had wracked their minds for how the intruders could have possibly found the mansion. Then, with a snarl of utter fury, Moira had spun around and started patting Azazel down.

"What are you doing?" He had demanded just as she plucked something from his suit jacket. She held it up for them to see.

"A tracker!" She had hissed, slamming it into the floor, where she then ground it to bits with her shoe.

"Then they planned this," Erik had breathed anxiously. "They were at Versailles. They knew what we were going to do," spies. How long had they followed them? What information had they gathered from some thoughtless comment she had made? What other weakness did they know about?

When they finally did arrive, the sun was just coming over the hills, illuminating the front yard with orange light, and the bodies lying there on the ground. The mansion was silent. The Blackbird had not yet landed when Erik fired himself out of his chair and out of the door.

Moira and Emma followed at a close second. Raven landed on the ground hard enough to bruise herself. She looked up and gasped. "A battle was fought here," Erik said softly, surveying the broken front doors and the scorched ground. A few of the intruders still lay on the ground, unconscious and moaning. Raven ignored them as she noticed a blue-furred body.

"Hank!" She ran to him, falling to her knees and turning him over. Her fingers went to his neck, and she could not describe the relief she felt when a stuttering heartbeat met her fingers. Azazel flashed away, probably to find Kitty.

"They're all alive. I feel brain waves," Emma reported as they all knelt next to the others. Logan tenderly stroked Rogue's hair. When he touched her, nothing happened. "But something is wrong," she whispered, opening eyes full of anger and pain.

"They've been poisoned," Michael called out from where he had knelt next to Alex. He touched his forehead, gently. "Something deadly, and slow. It's killing them," Raven's heart skipped a beat. She looked up and saw terror in Erik's eyes. Not only because of the poison, but another question that flit through their heads at the same time.

Where's Charles?

Suddenly Azazel ran towards them, a sobbing Kitty held in his arms. "She is unharmed," he told them as Raven jumped to her feet and ran over. Kitty was clinging to Azazel's neck, trembling. Raven gently touched her back.

"Kitty? Kitty, it's me. Raven. Are you alright?" Kitty nodded without looking up from Azazel's neck.

"Kitty," Erik came up behind her. "What happened?" He demanded harshly. Kitty just whimpered and hugged Azazel closer. Fear and sadness rolled off her in waves. Azazel choked.

"Guys! Over here!" Jason suddenly yelled; waving them over to where he was sitting on the ground with Cecilia cradled in his arms. Raven, Michael, Erik and Emma crowded around as Cecilia moaned. Her hand was clasped around something tightly as she wiggled in a nightmare; as if trapped by something.

"Cecilia," Jason whispered urgently. Raven, Michael and Erik knelt at his side. There were tears in Jason's eyes. He shook her gently. "Come on, sis. Tell me you're okay. Please be okay," he begged. As if his voice revived her, Cecilia suddenly gasped and sat up quickly. Raven fell back on her haunches trying not to get hit in the head.

"Charles!" Cecilia screamed in a voice that made Raven's heart clench.

"Wow, it's okay, sis! It's me," Jason told her, rubbing her arms. Cecilia gasped, twisting around to stare at them with wide, uncomprehending eyes. "You're safe now," Jason continued soothingly.

"Cecilia," that was Erik, not waiting for her to calm down. "What happened here?" She blinked at him dizzily.

"Erik…" she muttered. Then, catching sight of Michael; shoved something into his hands violently. It was a purple glass bottle. "It is the antidote for the poison," she told him quickly. "Give it to the children. They have to have it soon or they'll die," she told him. Michael nodded and patted her hand.

"Give her a minute," he cautioned Erik before jumping to his feet to administer the cure.

"Hey," Jason whispered, kissing her forehead as Cecilia continued trying to get her bearings. She pressed a hand to her temple. "It's alright. I've got you," he promised. "Are you okay?" he gently touched the bruise on her face. "How did you get that?" He asked.

"He hit me," Cecilia answered in a bewildered mumble.

"Who did?" Emma asked gently.

"The man… The leader with the helmet… He came and we tried to fight but… It was dark and I couldn't… Charles…"she babbled, quite obviously in shock. Erik placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Cecilia," he said again, quieter this time. "Please. Calm down and start at the beginning. What happened here?" He asked again. Cecilia stared at him with wide eyes for a long moment before gulping audibly. She nodded, inhaling a deep breath.

"It was about two hours after we got home," she began in a more collected voice. "We were in bed," Raven cocked an eyebrow. It did not have to be specified who she had been in bed with. She and Jason exchanged looks.

About time.

"When Charles woke me up. He said something was wrong," Cecilia shivered. "There were voices outside the window. We had just woken up Alex, Sean, Hank and Cassidy when they broke through the front door. More than fifty people. Cassidy, Hank and I tried to get the children out while Charles, Alex and Sean held them back but… There were too many. We were forced into the front yard," she gestured to the destruction wrought on the house and the front yard.

"They did so well, the children," she whispered, as tears flooded down her face. "They fought so bravely and we were winning. They were winning, Erik!" she looked up at him with all the pride of a mother. He smiled sadly and nodded.

"Then what?" he asked. Cecilia rubbed her temples, trying to remember.

"Charles… Charles, Hank and I went for the leader. He was standing back, watching. He had two guards," she let out a bitter laugh. "He was wearing Shaw's helmet," of course he had been. Erik growled deep in his throat.

"I hit one of the guards with my crowbar. Hank had the other one. Charles told him to surrender, that it was over but…Suddenly all those… Monsters we had knocked down got back up. They fired darts at the children, starting with Jean. We tried to stop them, but there was nothing we could do but watch as they all fell, one by one," she stopped for a moment. Then squared her shoulders, wiping at the tears on her face angrily.

"Two men grabbed me, and the others surrounded Charles. The leader told me I was a treacherous harlot who had sided with mutants," one side of her mouth quirked into a smile. "I told him that I thought he was the traitor. So he hit me," Jason groaned.

"What is it with you and attacking people who can kill you?" he lamented.

"He…The Leader said that the children would die within the hour. He was going to kill me, and make Charles watch," her brows furrowed. "He had something against him…" Raven frowned. Charles had enemies?

"Charles…" she let out another sob. "Charles said he could kill them all with a thought. He almost killed one of them…" she sounded appropriately horrified. Raven tried to mix the image of her compassionate, merciful brother with the desperate killer that Cecilia described. It was hard.

"Charles offered a deal…" Cecilia went on, slowly this time. She closed her eyes, struggling to remember. Raven gasped.

"What deal?" Erik demanded.

"He… he…" Suddenly, Cecilia's eyes snapped open and she hastened to her feet. "He said that if the leader gave me the antidote and left us alone, he would go with them willingly. He wouldn't fight," she stared at the forest, face draining of color. Raven did not need the rest of the story to realize what had happened. Cecilia had had the antidote after all, and it would be just like Charles to knock her out before…

"They took him that way!" She cried, pointing.

Erik surged to his feet. "Raven, Emma, with me!" He snapped, already running in the direction Cecilia had pointed.

"I'm coming too!" Cecilia cried. No one argued with her. The four of them took off into the woods, following Erik blindly through the still darkened patch of forest.

Raven ducked and dived between tree branches and over brushes, surprised when she saw Cecilia keeping up with them, her own legs stretched to almost Splitz like proportions as she rocketed after Emma.

After almost a minute of running, it occurred to Raven that they were merely heading in one direction. What if they had turned? She was about to suggest this to Erik when suddenly they came it the end of the small forest. Erik skidded to a halt, gasping. Raven bumped into his back. Cecilia and Emma stopped on either side, gasping.

"What?" Raven growled into Erik's shirt, pushing herself away. "What is it?" she looked over Erik's shoulder and gasped aloud. Lying on its side on the edge of the forest where the premises turned into a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean was Charles's lonely wheelchair. The indents of giant wheels were still in the ground. An airplane.

With a scream of feral rage, Erik slammed a fist against the nearest tree. Cecilia slowly walked over to Charles's wheelchair, as if in a trance, and fell beside it. Her shoulders shook with sobs. Emma knelt beside her, hugging her close. Raven's heart fell, and she crumpled to her knees. Her brother had been kidnapped, and could be anywhere in the world right now, having anything done to him.

He was gone.

Slowly, one by one, they trickled back to the house. Emma and Cecilia left first, Emma fairly carrying Cecilia back. Raven and Erik stayed, eyes glued to the toppled wheelchair.

"We'll get him back, Raven," Erik said, turning to her. His eyes were hard with determination. "I promise." she could only nod. They had to get him back.

When they returned to the house an hour later, the children had been given the antidote and Michael and Moira had ushered them into the family room. They all lay or sat on the couches, eyes glassy with memories of the night before. They reminded Raven of the refugees she had rescued in desolate parts of the world, their eyes empty and hearts broken.

She sat next to Hank. He had leaned forward, head in his hands. He did not look up when she entered. "Did you find him?" Raven assumed that someone had already told them what happened to Charles.

She bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "No," she rubbed his shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he looked up then; and placed his chin in his hands.

"Like I should have fought harder," he replied glumly.

"It wasn't your fault, Hank," it was hers. She should have come home with them, she should have come faster, she should have known… Then maybe Charles would still be there. She gently leaned against his shoulder as sadness and concern ripped through her.

Charlie, where are you?

Erik walked in last. Moira hurried to his side and they exchanged urgent whispers. Moira nodded and walked over to where Michael was leaning against the wall with arms crossed, eyes cast downwards. She slipped a hand into his comfortingly. He squeezed her hand back.

Erik walked to the front of the room where only a few months earlier, he and Charles had stood side by side, and told them about the bet that they had made to save their family… And change the world.

The world had changed. And Erik stood alone.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, firstly.

"What do you think?" Sean snapped from where he sat on the couch, gently stroking Bobby's hair. The young boy had his head in Sean's lap, staring straight ahead with sleepless eyes. "Those monsters come in here, tear up our home, drug us and take Charles. Why aren't you not alright, Erik?" he demanded angrily. Bobby whimpered and Sean deflated, sighing.

"Where did they take him?" Jean asked from where she sat in between Emma and Cecilia. She had her eyes closed, rubbing her temples as if in pain.

"We don't know," Raven said apologetically.

"But we're going to get him back," Erik piped up with determination. His fists clenched. "They won't get away with this," he growled. There was murder in his eyes.

Raven shivered. "How?" Alejandro snorted. "With what money?" That was a good point. So far everything they had gotten had been through Charles's bank account. No one could very well start a search without the money which only he had access too…

Or can we? She glanced at Cecilia.

Before Raven could open her mouth, though, Kitty jumped out of Cassidy's lap and rushed out of the room. She returned half a second later, carrying a jar full of dollars and coins. She shoved it at Erik with wide eyes full of hope.

"What's this?" Erik asked, surprised. Raven stared into the jar. There was at least two hundred dollars in there. Where had Kitty gotten all that money?

"It's the money for the puppy," Kitty explained, sniffling. She wiped a hand across her face. "Fessor told me to hold it until Christmas, and we would go get the puppy then," she sniffled and asked: "Can we use it to buy back Fessor?" Raven could not help but let out a small whimper of pain.

If only it were that easy.

Erik's expression was one of devastation. "What…?" His voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "What about the puppy?" he asked her helplessly. Kitty shook her head and hugged herself as if cold.

"I don't want it anymore," she told him. "I want Fessor to come home," a pain-filled silence descended. Kitty was staring up at Erik, waiting for an answer. Slowly, the metal bender set down the jar and knelt so that they were eye-level. He put a hand on Kitty's shoulder.

"The Professor would be so proud of you," he told her, merely. Kitty seemed to understand that this was the only promise he could give. She ducked her head and ran back to Cassidy with a cry of remorse. She buried her head in her lap as Cassidy picked her up and gently rocked her, tears running down her own face.

"Erik," Alex's voice cracked. "What are we going to do?" Now they were all staring at him for direction, for hope. A job that was usually Charles's title and claim, but Erik was the last leader they had left, the one who had been with them since the beginning.

So they begged him for answers that he didn't have.

He stared back at them, eyes filled with anguish. "I…" he gulped. "I don't know," it felt like a blow to the gut to hear him so unsure, so lost. As if Charles had taken all his confidence when he was kidnapped.

"We can still get into Charles's bank accounts," Raven offered, hoping to help.

"How?" Cecilia asked. Raven gave her a startled look. Had Charles not told her? Had he not explained just what he was giving to her?

"With the key," she replied. "Didn't Charles tell you? There are two keys to access all his bank accounts. One verbal and one physical. I have the verbal key," he had told her it the day she had turned eighteen, making her swear that she would never forget it. And really, how could she? It was the reason that he had ever found out about her powers in the first place, the offer of hers that had cemented them as friends.

Hot chocolate.

"Where's the physical key?" Cecelia wondered. Raven gazed at her sadly.

"Around your neck," Cecilia gasped and her hand went to the necklace around her throat, the green queen. Raven had only seen it once, long ago, when the banker responsible for the Xavier funds had handed it to Charles in a golden envelope.

"He… he said it was only a gift. A family heirloom. He never told me…" Cecilia gasped, unbuckling the necklace and studying it as if she suspected it to turn into gold at any moment now. Raven smiled and nodded.

"It is," she agreed softly. "It's been in his family for three generations. It was supposed to go to his mother, but she wasn't deemed "fit" enough to keep it after his father died, so they gave it to Charles. And I'm guessing that he gave it to you so that should anything ever happen," she met Cecilia's shocked eyes steadily. "Then everything that was his would become yours by Inheritance." She smiled bitterly. "Congratulations. You're now a billionaire," Cecilia did not laugh at the dark humor.

"But… But why?" she gasped, as tears ran down her face. Jason wrapped an arm around her shoulder, staring at the necklace with amazement. "Why would he give it to me? Why not to Erik; or you?" she asked. Raven shrugged.

"Because he loves you Cecilia," said simply.

There was a stunned silence as Cecilia stared at her gift, given new purpose. It was ended by Erik. "Well, that's taken care of," he decided. "Now we can begin," he sounded considerably more hopeful. "Did anyone get a good look at the leader?" He asked.

Cecilia nodded shakily. "I did."

"Emma?" Emma gently touched the side of Cecilia's temple and transmitted the image there to everyone else. Raven gasped aloud- in time with Sean, Alex, Hank, and Erik- when they saw the very familiar face. It can't be, Raven thought, horrified. He's dead. He has to be…

But there had never been a body. The men who had come to the door to tell them the news had said he died in a fire. Nobody. Just ashes. Yet they had never even received the ashes.

There was never a body. He was never dead.

"Wow," Moira gasped, confirming what she knew to be true. "He looked just like Charles," Erik met her eyes, seeking confirmation. Raven nodded, her heart thudding at an all new pace. That was why the man had seemed to have something against Charles. Because he did. He hated him.

For the crime of being mutant.

"I should think so," Hank gasped aloud. "Because that was his father."