I apologize that you guys had to wait a week between updates. I know. It's tragic, especially after getting five updates in six days.

So, the overall tone of this chapter is a lot lighter than the last couple have been. Some of you may argue that it's a little too light, given what I ended the last chapter with... but I couldn't write another soul-sucking despair chapter.

That, and I promised that there would be no more of the "Charles is broken and irreperable" chapters and I'm sticking to that.

And, that whole three or four chapters left thing I might have expounded on in prior chapters? Ha. Lies. All of it. I realized today I need to do a lot of editing/adding on to later parts of this story, and thus, added like another twenty chapters to the story. Sigh. I'm beginning to think this is the story that will never end... :)

Thank you for all of your continued support! I love you all very dearly.

The Perks of Being a Telepath

Chapter 50: Surprises

Jesus Christ.

It was Sean's first reaction upon seeing the first of the mutant children board the Blackbird.

Jesus fucking Christ.

It was Alex.

Logically, Sean knew that it wasn't. This boy was a good four or five years younger, with dark brown hair, as opposed to blonde, and bandages wrapped around his eyes.

But still… Holy shit.

There was a light chuckle coming from the Professor, who clearly had read Sean's thoughts. Not that the redhead minded, but still, was it really that damn complicated for the telepath to give a kid a little warning about things like this?

Your mouth is hanging open, Sean. I'd advise you close it.

Sean barely comprehended Charles' advice, staring in blank shock at the younger Summers.

Hank let out a soft, surprised growl, having seen what Sean had.

But then, there were about a dozen children all pushing into the Blackbird, obviously thrilled about having been rescued, and Sean was temporarily forced to look away from Alex's fucking twin to help everyone find a place to sit.

He did, however, manage to send a few dirty looks to the Professor, who was smiling oh so innocently back at him.

Sean, in all honesty, hadn't seen the telepath that gleeful since before Cuba, and man, if that wasn't a wake-up call. The redhead felt less inclined to burst the Professor's eardrum over this surprise.

But only slightly less.

With the children settled, Hank hit a few buttons on the navigation panel and launched the Blackbird.

Sean pointedly sat down on the other side of Charles, who was currently sitting next to the mini-Alex.

The Professor had the decency to shoot Sean a slightly apologetic smile.

I'm sorry, Sean. I thought it would be best if you saw for yourself.

The redhead at least was mature enough not to stick his tongue out at the older man.

What's wrong with his eyes?

Charles went very still and his mental voice was guarded.

I don't know.

While Sean wasn't as adept at reading the telepath as Erik or Raven were, he could still tell with some accuracy when the man was lying.

He sighed.

If you don't want to tell me, then fine.

Charles shook his head, sounding apologetic.

It's not my place to tell. I can, however, tell you, that Scott is very happy to be here. Apparently, Alex told him a lot about us.

Pain shook through the mental link before the telepath cut it off, and it was enough to remind Sean that while it had been three years, sometimes, time didn't heal wounds.

He took that as a cue to change the subject by turning to Scott. Though the younger Summers couldn't see, Sean had the feeling the other mutant could sense where people were.

"I'm Sean. I was friends with your brother before…"

Sean immediately stopped talking as his brain caught up with his mouth and he realized, with some faint horror, what he had been about to say.

Scott, however, barely seemed fazed by it.

"Alex wrote me a lot about you. All of you. Beast and the Professor, and…"

The younger mutant trailed off, but Sean didn't need to be a telepath to guess what Scott had been about to say.

Sean sighed.

"Yeah. Cuba sucked. But that's all fixed now. At least, for the most part."

Even three years after the fact, there were still some ghosts of the past that kept haunting them.

Like Scott, for example.

Scott's face changed, into what could only be described as sadness. His voice was soft when he spoke.

"Alex often said he wanted things to go back to the way they were before. He always told me he couldn't remember a time when he was happier than before Cuba."

Three years after the fact, and Sean still couldn't quite get rid of the dull, aching reminder he had of that day on the beach or of the tragedy that happened soon after.

Charles, thankfully, took control of the conversation, his voice remarkably calm.

"Alex was a good man, Scott. He always hoped that we would be able to find you one day and let you join us."

That might have been true, but it didn't fully describe what went on during those long conversations.

In the months before Alex had left before Vietnam, he had actively fought with Charles to bring Scott to them. The Professor had argued that his brother was too young, which was entirely the truth, while Alex had argued that it was too dangerous for him out there with the CIA and the Brotherhood closing in, which was also entirely true.

Before the argument could be resolved, Alex had been shipped out, and then killed. By the time Charles had recovered enough from the blow to look for Scott, the younger Summers had disappeared into the black hole of social services.

And then Erik had happened and the whole world was turned on its head.

Scott smiled slightly.

"He was a good brother. I miss him."

The Professor was quiet for a minute, his sorrow plain.

"So do I."

A knock at the gym door made Erik pause in the middle of lifting weights. He glanced over to the doorway, surprised to find Charles leaning against the jam.

Since the incident at the CIA a few weeks prior, the telepath had shut himself either in his room or the library, rarely leaving except for meals. Erik honestly wasn't sure if this meant that the other mutant was ripping himself apart over what had happened or if Charles was up to something.

With most of his life spent dodging people who were out to kill him and seeing through people's bullshit, Erik had become fairly adept at reading people. While this skill was mostly useless now with a very powerful telepath on his side, Erik was still fairly good at it, especially when it came to reading Charles.

The younger man seemed content, with a faint smile on his face. He was dressed casually, in a pair of dark jeans and a light blue button up shirt, clearly wanting to go out.

It was highly surprising, to say the least.

Erik raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want, Charles?"

The telepath shrugged, his easy smile still in place.

"Let's go out."

"Why?"

"A celebration of sorts. I'll tell you when we get there."

"Why don't you take Raven? She's more of the celebratory type."

Charles let out a noisy, melodramatic sigh.

"If you don't want to be seen in public with me, just say so, Erik."

The smile on his face showed that he was merely pretending to be offended.

After weeks of silence, Erik really couldn't resist the offer. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he had missed Charles over the past few weeks.

"Give me five minutes to change."

Charles' smile turned almost feral, clearly picking up on Erik's reluctant thoughts.

"Don't worry, dear. I won't tell anyone that you missed me."

He disappeared, shutting the door behind him.

Which was a good thing, given that a brief second after the door closed, one of the thousands of weights went flying into it.

The telepath's voice rang through the mansion.

"You're going to fix that!"

Erik gave the closed door the finger, before shaking his head. He was entirely unsuccessful at keeping the stupid grin off his face.