A/N: Here is the next chapter! As always, let me know if you see any spelling errors or anything :)

Something was ringing. Charles opened his eyes, grimacing at the bright moonlight that poured in through the window. The sound was soft but high pitched, and he quickly followed it back to Kurt. It was a trick he had learned. Making things corporeal inside his head made it easier to work with them. He pictured it like a row of bells, each one with a string connected to a loved one. There were three bells at the top, Kurt, Azazel, and Raven (Azazel less for Charles sake, and more for Raven's. Charles had been used as a telepathic phone more than once when things with the resistance had gone bad). Underneath was Moira's, a kind human woman he had dated once and still considered his friend. Under that, trapped in a metal box, was Erik's. Charles had gotten his permission first and had buried the string so deep in Erik's mind that it took a real emergency for Erik to find it. He had taken such precautions because of Jean Grey and Emma Frost, Apocalypse's favorite telepaths. Erik had told him they attended to everyone's minds regularly, to make sure there were no thoughts of deceit or mistrust. Luckily, Erik had been raised with Emma and knew enough to hide Charles from them.

The bell rang insistently, demanding a reply. "Yes, Darling," Charles sat up, "You can come over."

Kurt appeared in an instant, blue eyes filled with tears. Charles held out his arms invitingly. Kurt scrambled forward into them, burying his face in the soft cloth of Charles' nightshirt. Charles held him close, willing wave after wave of comfort, love, and safety over him. The nightmare had been bad, about his father and mother abandoning him. Charles didn't know why Kurt had such deep fears of being left alone, Raven had always made sure that Kurt always had someone to go to if he needed. Nevertheless, the nightmares weren't uncommon and Charles took special care to project feelings of love to the little nightcrawler, making sure he felt safe.

"Is it that child again?" Erik groaned, sitting up. Kurt held his little hands out to Erik, asking to be held. Erik smiled and scooted closer, allowing Kurt to teleport into his arms. "Did you have more nightmares?"

"They left," Kurt sniffed, "they left me alone and I...I was alone."

Erik smiled softly, "It's scary being alone, isn't it?" He murmured. Kurt nodded and sniffed again, wiping his nose on Erik's shirt. "But you have Charles," Erik touched Kurt's shoulder, "and you have me, and your mother and father aren't going anywhere."

Kurt nodded and sniffed again, crawling back into Charles' lap. "I'm gonna go home now," he whispered, "thanks, Uncle Charles."

Charles nodded, smiling softly. Kurt vanished, leaving only the slight smell of sulfur to show he was there. Erik grumbled and shoved his face back into Charles' side. Charles' rested his hand on Erik's head, winding a soothing whisper of sleep through his mind. Erik smiled, a low, pleased sound escaping his lips as he curled up next to Charles.

The clash of five pots coming down onto the floor was not a comfortable way to wake up. Charles lunged from the bed and down the stairs, immobilizing the two attackers with his power. Robbers weren't uncommon here…

"Raven?"

He stopped at the foot of the stairs. She was standing in the kitchen with Azazel, sheepishly holding two pots. His shock broke the connection. Raven put the pots onto the counter, frowning at him. She was blue, Charles noted, and no doubt Erik had heard the clash as well.

"Turn blond! Now!" He hissed. She shot him a confused look, but in a flash she was pale again, her blond hair falling around her face in waves.

"Charles!" Erik shouted, appearing at the top of the stairwell. It had taken him an extra moment to wave off Charles' compulsion to sleep, but he was alert now, every metal instrument in the room aimed at Raven and her husband.

"It's okay!" Charles called, "They're my friends! Kurt's parents!"

Raven stared at Erik, terror sparking from her so intensely that Charles had to throw up shields lest he become victim to it. When Charles said Kurt's name that terror spiked into white-hot rage.

"Oh," Erik smiled sheepishly and the knives and dishes began putting themselves back into their places. "Sorry, I thought you were robbers."

Raven kept her face carefully blank. "Charles can take care of himself," she said stiffly.

"I'm well aware," Erik pinched the bridge of his nose, still struggling against Charles' compulsion. "However, I'm not entirely convinced that he wouldn't simply give the thieves anything of value and let them walk off down the street with it."

Raven's lip twitched before she could stop it, quietly thinking that that sounded exactly like something Charles would do.

"Why are you here?" Charles interrupted irritably. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation he would be having with Raven later.

"Nevermind," Raven said coldly, "I didn't know you were...entertaining."

Which was bullshit. Charles had invited a significant other of some sort over most nights of the week for years, except when he knew Raven was coming over, or in this case, when Erik couldn't come over. In reality, she didn't want to say anything in front of Erik.

"I'll head back to bed," Erik nodded upstairs, sensing he was the cause of the thick atmosphere.

"I'll be up in a minute," Charles said, already moving toward Raven. Once Erik was gone, he lowered his voice and hissed, "Why are you here?"

"Bobby was having nightmares all night," Raven hissed back, her eyes flashing angrily, "I was just going to have Azazel teleport over, and because I knew you probably had your pick of the month upstairs, I asked him to take me downstairs. I thought you could come over and soothe him before he freezes the whole house over!"

Charles drew back, "How bad is it?" He asked, letting Azazel take his hand.

His insides felt like they were being turned inside out. His head spun for a moment as nausea threatened to climb up his stomach. Then the feeling was gone and he was standing in a very cold living room. He could see ice crawling up the walls and he quickly sent out strings of thought, looking for Bobby.

"Mr. Xavier!" Bobby wailed, running into the room and wrapping his arms around Charles' knees.

"This is what your boyfriend does to people," Raven hissed under her breath. Charles shot her an acidic look, gently picking Bobby up.

"May I?" He wiggled his fingers next to his head and Bobby nodded.

Charles sighed as he dove into Bobby's mind. He opened his eyes to the inside of a small house, grander than what Charles would expect. The walls were plastered, the furniture second hand but of quality. The area was dark, heavy with grief and fear. Charles took a step forward, hissing as something small grazed his face. He squinted at it, but couldn't make out the shape, and he didn't dare touch it lest he hurt Bobby accidentally. Charles raised his hand, closing his eyes. When he opened them, a light was shining softly from his hand, illuminating thousands of ice crystals hanging from the ceiling, each shining a different color. Charles saw the memory he wanted immediately. It was tiny but vivid red, the color leaching onto the other crystals around it. Often pain from one memory could spread, but once he dulled the original pain the rest eased as well. He had learned that well enough from Erik.

Charles slowly moved toward the crystal, taking his time to watch where he stepped lest he accidentally break something important. Most memories could take a beating, again something he had learned from Erik, but he wasn't sure about Bobby's. They looked so...delicate.

He reached out, grasping the red ice crystal in his hand. It warbled nervously and began trembling.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Charles whispered, drawing his hand over it. He had learned quickly that through drawing the pain into himself was effective, it was not prudent for either him or Bobby. Instead, he touched the ice crystal with his glowing hand, pressing calm and love against the fear and grief. The light in his hand turned a gentle blue, streaks of it brushing up against the crystal. The pain would always be there, but Charles could ease it a little bit at least. The crystal flickered, turning a gentle purple. Charles turned, noting the other crystals returning to their own colors. He let the crystal fall from his hand, watching as it bounced slightly on its string before returning to stillness.

Charles opened his eyes. They hurt, everything hurt. He must have spent too much time in Bobby's mind. He looked down, smiling as he saw Bobby snoring gently.

"Here," Charles handed him to Raven. She took him without fuss.

Azazel held out his hand and Charles took it. He had to get back to Erik before the horseman decided to look for him himself.

A moment of mind-numbing agony later, Charles was in his house. Azazel paused, looking up the stairs at the door to Charles' bedroom. "I don't know you well," he said, his voice thick and accented. Charles jerked in surprise, he couldn't remember the last time he had heard Azazel speak. Azazel gave him a withering look, "Be careful of the horseman," he said, "Raven would be sad if you died." And with that, he was gone.

Charles smiled. That was as close to worried as he had ever seen Azazel. Then again, he obviously loved Raven. If he hadn't Charles would never have condoned the marriage. Not that Raven would have stopped it at his word, she was pig headed that way.

"Did you deal with the issue?" Erik lounged on the bed, his eyes glittering in the moonlight streaming in through the window.

Charles smiled as pushed open the bedroom door. "How did you know I was here?"

Erik hummed, rolling over on the bed, "I heard you and the teleporter talking.

There it was again, that annoying buzz of truthnottruth. Charles sighed, it could wait until the morning. He collapsed on the bed, curling in close to Erik. Erik smiled, sliding his arm around Charles' shoulders and pressing close against him.

"Does your back still hurt?"

Charles shrugged. "It'll hurt for a few days, but the bath and the massage helped quite a bit-thank you for that, by the way. I'll probably be able to walk tomorrow."

Sleep tugged at him and he gave into it willingly, knowing Erik would be awake for some time, watching for any more intruders.

A/N: There we go :) Hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday season!