The military had stormed the beach shortly after Erik and his new group of mutants had disappeared. Their presence was both a relief and worrisome as they handled the mutants like they were criminals, despite Moira's insistence that they weren't any danger.

Just short of putting them in handcuffs they were stuffed on the back of a medical plane, with Charles pumped full of sedatives strapped down on a gurney to the side of the plane.

They were taken to a military hospital in nearby Florida, where Charles was immediately taken for emergency surgery. The rest of them were urged by Moira to get looked over by the doctors. Luckily no one was seriously hurt, only Sean came away with a sprained ankle from his earlier crash landing. Other than a few bumps and bruises they were okay. And when the doctor wanted to take blah blood from them, a growling blue Hank McCoy stood between them and the doctors.

And despite Hank's intimidating size and growls, and the boy's threats and pleas, they weren't allowed to go and see Charles.

For days they sat in an isolated ward, it was nerve explicitly stated but they weren't allowed to go beyond the ward without supervision, whether it was because they were viewed as children, or the fact that they were mutants.

Ivy didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't help the thought from crossing her mind. 'Maybe Erik was right'.

Days later a doctor came to them and told them that Charles was awake, and asking for them.

Despite their pleas to see their professor, the four of them actually hesitated outside of his room, unprepared and scared quite frankly of what lie beyond.

"I know you all are out there." Charles' smooth voice drifted from the other side of the door, making their decision for them. Hank huffed, as he was unofficially the designated adult of the group, and opened the door being the first to step inside. Followed shortly by Ivory, then Alex, who had to step back outside to drag in a reluctant Sean.

"Hello children," Charles said still managing to sound his usual chipper self despite his condition. He looked exhausted, paler than normal, with dark bags under his bright blue eyes.

"Hey," Ivory said waving shyly when none of the boys moved, save for Hank who took it upon himself to look through Charles' charts, his brow furrowing the more he read through. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better know that I know that you all are alright."

"What have the doctors said?" Hank asked setting the chart back down and standing on the other side of Charles' bed.

The professor's smile faltered slightly, "They're not hopeful for a full recovery." An uncomfortable silence came over the group as what he meant sunk in, Charles was going to be paralyzed from the waist down.

"I'm sorry Charles."

"It's not your fault dear." Charles responded instantly, the unspoken words hung heavy on whose fault it actually was, then he sighed. "You all will be going home tomorrow, back to the mansion."

"What?" they said in unison and disbelief. "What about you?" Hank continued.

"I'll be along shortly." Charles said calmly waiting for their protests to die down, "I want you all to relax for a while, because when I get back I'll have big plans for the mansion, for all of us actually."

"Plans? Plans to do what?" Hank questioned intrigued.

"You'll see." The professor said smiling despite the situation, "Hank, how long would it take you to build a version of Cerebro in the mansion?"

"With the right materials?" Hank responded rhetorically, "About a week or so."

"Then I suggest you get to work as soon as you get back."

Just as Charles predicted the next day several government agents came to collect them from their rooms, and ushered them to the nearest airport. From there it was a long uncomfortable flight to New York that was three hours too long. Finally when they landed, the agents assigned to them stuffed them into a cab, undoubtedly happy to be rid of them.

One cramped car ride later the driver couldn't get rid of them and Hanks menacing blue form fast enough. Then came another problem.

"Really." Sean groaned seeing the large iron lock across the front of the gate.

"I could climb over," Hank suggested. "Throw the rest of you over maybe." He added with a shrug.

"Sean's ankle won't take that landing." Ivory said gesturing to the redhead currently on crutches, "And I've been in the air enough these last few days because of you Hank. No offense."

"None taken." Hank tossed his hand, then turned to the blonde. "Alex?"

"I don't think the professor wound appreciate a giant hole in his gate when he comes back." Alex said unhappily shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"It's sad that we all know who we need right now." Sean said shifting on his crutches.

Ivory frowned and Alex glanced uneasily at Hank, when the blue scientist nodded he took his hands from his pockets and blasted a hole through the fence large enough for them to squeeze through. At least with the iron fence there wasn't a need to lock the front doors. They opened with a simple push.

A collective sigh of relief left the group once they were inside the warm mansion, when they were finally back home. They went their separate ways for a while with the promise to meet up in an hour's time for dinner.

Ivory sighed happy to be back in her room, and out of the stuffy military hospital, the only thing on her mind what taking a long hot shower to wash the grime and hospital smell off her skin and out of her hair.

She was so distracted by the enticing thought of her shower, that she almost missed the strong sulfur smell that was present in her room for some odd reason. She however didn't miss the figure that she caught from the corner of her eyes. Before she could open her mouth to scream, she gasped instead when the tall figure dashed forward covering her mouth with a large hand and cradling the back of her head so that when he pushed her into the wall next to the door with a thump, his hand took the brunt of it. And just as quickly as it happened Erik's blue eyes were blazing down at her.

"Don't scream." He whispered gruffly before a knock rattled the door beside them, making him tense up.

"Ivy?" Alex's deep voice called, "You alright? I thought I heard something."

"Tell him everything's alright." Erik muttered to her waiting for her nod before slipping his fingers off of her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said towards the door hoping that he wouldn't pick up on the shakiness in her voice, "I ran into the desk."

"Okay, if Sean doesn't burn the place down, dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes."

She nodded despite the fact that he couldn't see her, "I'll meet you guys down there."

When they heard his footsteps Ivory turned back to Erik who had the decency to look sheepish, like he hadn't planned to get this far. "Hi."

"Hi?" Ivy scoffed, "Hi, are you kidding me?" she snapped before shoving him back. He must have been surprised because he actually took a few steps backwards with the force of her shove. But she wasn't done, advancing on him and swatting at his taller frame wherever she could reach, "You come back, here of all places? And that's all you have to say? Hi!"

Hunched over he covered his head with his arms but didn't fight back, and even Ivy knew she wasn't really hurting him. "Keep your voice down." He snapped grabbing her hands.

She yanked her hands back, "What are you doing here?" she asked hugging running low on sleep and high on sudden adrenaline and anger.

"I don't know." He said shrugging, "I needed to make sure you're alright."

"Well I'm here." She answered crossing her arms over her chest defensively, "You can leave now."

"Ivy,"

"What Erik," she snapped cutting him off, "What do you want me to say Erik? That I'm happy to see you? Because right now I'm really not."

"I understand you're upset."

"Don't Erik. Just tell me what you want."

"Come with us. Ivy come with me." He said reaching out and taking her hand.

"No." she answered exasperated shaking her head, "You really think I'd go with you after everything?"

"Honestly no, but it was worth a shot."

"I'm not like you Erik. I thought I was, but the only thing I've ever wanted was to move on from my past. I'm woman enough to admit that you helped me do that. So I thought you wanted the same thing, I was wrong."

He looked genuinely hurt by her words. "I'm sorry okay, I didn't mean for you to get hurt. You or Charles, or any of the others."

"I'm really not the person you need to be apologizing to."

Erik sighed at her stubbornness, "I made peace with Charles on the beach." He placed his hands on his hips looking for the side before back at her, "How is he? When will he be back up?"

"He won't." she told him coldly, then continued through gritted teeth, "The bullet hit his spine. He's gonna be paralyzed for life. You call that peace?"

"What?" he asked frozen in his place.

Ivory could only shake her head before the door behind her opened, Erik tensed but relaxed when Alex walked in with a bottle of water in his hands. He looked up and didn't seem surprised to see Erik there, only disappointed as he shook his head.

"I was hoping you'd wait a few more days." He said as he closed the door behind him. Erik was still frozen in place he only could turn weary eyes on the younger man. "You done?" Erik's jerked his head in a shaky nod. "Then leave. And try not to come back."

Erik stood up straighter and nodded, he glanced at his watch then back at Alex and then Ivy, "Take care of her." He instructed and then a few seconds later a puff of red vapors appeared then Azazel was stood in its place next to Erik. He gave the two of them a once over before placing a hand on Erik's shoulder and then disappeared from the room with him, leaving behind only a trail of vapors and a smell of sulfur.

When they were gone Alex turned to her tossing the water on the bed and hugging her to his chest.

"You okay?" he whispered to her, and only then did she realize how she was shaking.

"Yeah." She didn't think Erik would actually hurt her if and when he came back, she just didn't know what he wanted. "Did you leave?"

"Yeah I did," he nodded his head, chest rumbling a little under her head, "But then you didn't come downstairs, plus I had a feeling he would show up."

"You didn't tell the others?"

"No, I know he wouldn't hurt you. He cares about you too much."

"Not enough to stay."

He sighed and squeezed her tighter before releasing her holding his hands on her shoulders to look her in the eye, "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm getting kind of sick of hearing that." She spat with no real venom and his lips twitched, before he leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to the middle of her forehead.

"I'll let you get cleaned up for real, and I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes," he waited for her to nod before he continued with a small smirk, "If you're not down there I'm coming back to drag you down."

"Then I'll make sure to take my time." She teased and he smiled kissing her again before leaving.

Ivory sighed and looked around her empty room, finding it lonelier than ever before going to the bathroom to clean up before Alex had to make good on his threat, not that she would have minded all that much. She passed by her sink and the medicine cabinet hanging above it before pausing and backtracking to stand in front of the mirror.

Nope, her eyes weren't deceiving her hanging on the knob to the cabinet was a long chain, and on the end was a bent and folded pieces of metal. Upon closer inspection the metal had little indentation running along either side, and she could finally make out what it was. It was a pair of wings.

She blew out a breath through her nose, and carefully pulled it off the knob shaking her head, "Erik."

Dinner was an awkward affair at first, Sean had miraculously managed not to burn down the kitchen and made decent pasta dish for them to enjoy. However when they sat down at the dining room table to eat, it felt far too empty. The seat at the head of the table was waiting for Charles return and possibly Moira if she decided to come back as well. But there were another pair of chairs that most likely wouldn't be filled by their owners anytime soon, if ever.

So with awkwardness hanging heavy in the air, but no one daring to comment on it, Hank suggested that they eat dinner in the living room and watch some television. The words were barely even fully out of his mouth before the other three were up and in the next room, even with a sprained ankle Sean moved quickly to get away from the tension and unwanted memories.

In the living room they were much more comfortable with the television playing a black and white movie, conversation flowed and for a long while they were able to pretend everything was normal. Then exhaustion crept up again, a day of travelling and being manhandled by government agents would do that to you. Hank was the first to retire to his room, Sean went with him so the furry scientist could help him hobble up the stairs. Fifteen minutes later Ivory was dropping onto Alex's shoulder and he suggested that they call it quits for the night as well.

In her room Ivory shower for nearly a solid twenty minutes, hot water cascading over her head and beating down on sore muscles. Only when she closely resembled a steamed lobster did she cut the water and put on a fresh pair of pajamas. Unfortunately, as it seemed to be a norm for her, as exhausted as she was she found that she couldn't sleep after staring blankly out the window with her eyes wide open as she laid bundled up in the middle of the bed.

Voicing her displeasure with a series of grunts and groans she climbed out of bed and made her way through the dark mansion back to the kitchen. Once there she grabbed a glass and dropped some ice into it before opening a cabinet and pulling out Erik's half-drunk bottle of whiskey, the one with the name she didn't bother trying to learn how to pronounce. It was probably in German anyway.

She filled up the glass and took a few large gulps, hoping that the warm liquor would sooth her enough to get a decent night's sleep like the first time. Unfortunately for the virginal alcohol drinker, one glass turned into two, which turned into three glasses of straight whiskey on ice, which turned out to be a very bad idea, because not only was she extremely not sleepy, she was hopelessly giddy. And who should find her sat on top of the counter's trying way too hard to pour the perfect amount of whiskey into her glass, but a certain Alex Summers.

"Alex!" she sang upon seeing him straightening up slightly before hunching over as if that took too much effort, still she beamed at him still with that sing-song voice, "Hi!"

"Hi," he chuckled, this was the last thing he expected to find when he came downstairs for a glass of warm milk. He took a look at her position on the counter swinging her legs back and forth, then looking at the nearly empty bottle of alcohol and came to a quite conclusion, "You're drunk."

She blew a raspberry and scoffed, "No, I'm not." She dragged out each letter, "I don't – I don't drink."

"I can see that."

"This is Erik's." she said tapping her nail against the glass bottle with each word, "I'm just," hiccup, "Keeping it company until he comes back." She nodded her head bopping wildly. "Do you want some? I'm sure he won't mind. He likes you." When she tried again to pour the perfect amount into the glass he quickly stepped forwards and removed the bottle from her hands.

"Let's not do that huh?" he said capping the bottle and moving the glass out of her reach as well, "We still want him to have some when he gets back right?" She hummed not really paying much attention to his words, as he was suddenly very close to her and she was fighting an overwhelming urge to lick his face. She whimpered a little when he turned to place the bottle back into the cabinet, Alex raised a brow when he turned back to find her legitimately pouting, his shook his head and placed his hands on her waist, "Alright babydoll," he said taking her down, "Let's get you to bed."

She giggled when he set her on her feet, her hands on his biceps, "You're so strong." She squeezed his arm, looking at her hand on him for a few seconds before looking up at him a bit mischievously, "I'll race you upstairs." Then she was gone from between his arms and Alex groaned running after her, quickly hitting the light switch as he went.

Luckily she didn't get very far, only making it up about four steps, as she hung onto the bannister breathing heavily like she'd just run a marathon.

"I'm tired." She groaned out and Alex laughed coming up beside her and placing his arm around her waist.

"C'mere." He said as he began to drag her up the stairs. "Let's get you to your room before you lose a body part."

"I don't wanna go to my room." She whined as he pulled her beside him up the long staircase.

"Why?"

"I'm all alone in there." She confessed sadly, before brightening tugging on his neck where she had thrown her arms around him, nearly causing him to lose his footing and send them both back down the staircase, "Can I stay with you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." He said honestly as they finally made it to the top of the stairs and he could begin dragging her down the hall.

"Why not?"

"Because you're drunk." He answered simply and she huffed.

"I'm not drunk," she answered stubbornly, "I want another one." She said simply before slipping out from his arms. This time though he spun around and caught her around the waist.

"No you don't." he said playfully, before scooping her up getting her to comment on his strength again.

"So strong." She squealed and he was quick to hush her.

"Don't want to wake the others." He whispered to her and she nodded seriously. He smiled at her adorableness before continuing to march down the hallway with her in his arms. He reasoned to himself that he would bring her to his room only to keep an eye on her.

When he kicked the door open though, she immediately wiggled in his arms until he set her on her feet out of fear of dropping her, then she turned to him and threw her arms around his neck pushing her lips against his in messy, sloppy kisses. Alex's brain went black when she kissed him and he automatically kissed her back, until he tasted the whiskey on her tongue.

"Ivy," he mumbled against her lips trying to pull away, "Ivy." She ignored him in favor of kissing him deeper as she began walking backwards until she hit the edge of his bed and fell on top of it, pulling him down with her. Alex let himself get lost in her for a moment, leaning down on his forearms, before he felt her hands on his back trying to tug off his shirt. "Stop, Ivy. Stop."

"Why?" she whined leaning up to catch his lips again.

"Because you're drunk," he explained catching her wondering hands and pining them besides her head, "And it's not right."

"But I want to!" she whined wrapping her legs around his waist and leveraging his hips down onto hers. When he faltered as a result she caught his lips again wrapping herself nearly fully around him.

Alex groaned against her lips, having not been expecting a test of his self-control tonight, yet here he was. He used her koala like position to push them further up the bed until she was nestled in the pillows before his pulled back again. "Not tonight, okay?" he tried to appease her, "Not like this."

She sighed and dropped her head back, momentarily distracting him with the sight of her neck on display, "How are you so perfect, you oversized glowstick?"

He chuckled on top of her, "Glowstick?"

"Mhm." She hummed with a small smile, her eyes already drifting shut.

Ales sighed again before unraveling her from around him and settling down beside her pulling the sheets over them, "You'll thank me in the morning." He explained as she scurried over to him cuddling up under his arm.

"You know for a while," she confessed her voice dragging as sleep threatened to pull her under, "When he was here, I could have imagined that, that was what it felt like."

"What, what felt like doll?" he asked quietly running his fingers up and down her back, she was nearly purring.

"A family."

Fin-Fish Jun-Tenshi: That would be soooooooo cute.

Ivana Bocanegra: Hmm, I get what you're saying but she still has so much more expanding to do with her powers. Not trying to be mean but you put far too much thought into what you expect her powers to be, how can you be disappointed because the qualities that you've imagined didn't make it into my story. Like I said it's not just plant manipulation its earth manipulation, sand is a part of the earth. And I chose to do that because it opens so many doors for her powers to grow. Do try to remember that I love and appreciate everyone's input, but at the end of the day it's my story, and it's my say that goes and what I feel is best.

As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future.