For those of you who don't like Moira…tough. She's featured prominently in this chapter. Also, I'm not an expert in biochemistry. I'm feeling around in the dark here.

Time and point of view are played with.

Oh, and of course, I own nothing.

Chapter Six

Charles had contacted Moira who stopped by the mansion on weekends to check up on them. When she answered her phone, she could not help but keep the joy out of her voice. Charles knew of Moira's feelings (Of course he did.) and only felt slightly guilty for taking advantage of her. He told himself that he was doing it for her…and for his dream. Charles guiltily squashed this feeling down. He needed Moira's help, he told himself.

Charles smiled and asked her if she could take a few weeks off to help him with his plans for the school.

Moira, of course, readily agreed.

When she arrived the next day, she was pleased that Charles seemed to be moving through the funk that he had found himself in after that day in the Cuban beach. Her brow briefly darkened thinking back on that day but decided to push it aside. (This was neither the time nor the place to think such thoughts.)

"Hello, Moira," Charles said greeting her himself. Alex arrived behind him, grinned and waved hello while he unpacked her car.

"Hello, yourself," Moira said grinning back at him. Moira felt something stir in her chest when Charles looked at her and Moira couldn't resist blushing. Charles smiled brightly at her, not commenting on her blush. She could sense the tentative joy from the three young men as they watched Charles talking to Moira in the driveway. Something had changed for Charles and Moira was glad of it.

Moira turned her attention back to Charles. He smiled again at her; the stress of the last six months seemed to have disappeared from his face. Moira felt her heart give a little flutter when he smiled at her. She tried to school her face into a neutral expression, but knew she was unsuccessful. Moira blushed and looked around the familiar grounds.

Charles, gaining that charming cheekiness he had from his days at Oxford, reached out and lifted her hand. Startled, Moira jumped as Charles brushed his lips against her knuckles and winked at her. For a split second, Moira couldn't breathe. She gazed into his crystalline blue eyes and laughed despite her better judgment bent down and gave him a small kiss on his temple.

"Flirt," she muttered not entirely wanting Charles to hear. Clearly, Charles had heard and again smiled brilliantly at her. (He's so sure of himself. It's uncanny.)

"I've had a lot of practice," he said and ran his thumb against her knuckles. Moira felt jolts of electricity zip down her spine.

"So, I've heard," Moira said smiling. She walked to the back of his wheelchair to push him back inside.

"I thought we might enjoy the outside for a bit," Charles said lightly. (There are some conversations, best held in private.)

Moira could not keep the dubious look from her face.

"The paths are wheelchair friendly," he said gently, "my boys made sure of it." Moira did not miss the phrase. She simply nodded and looked ahead.

"Where shall we go then?" Moira said.

"Let's head to the dock," he said and gestured off to the right.

"You have a dock?" Moira clearly did not comprehend the vast fortune Charles Xavier held.

Charles gave that soft chuckle again. "Yes, I have a dock. And many other things that the boys have not yet discovered," he said simply. "I'm sure they will eventually, though."

From the living room window, Hank, Alex and Sean stood watching the two adults moving away. Sean spoke first.

"They make a cute couple."

Alex grunted but didn't respond one way or another. Sean meant well, Alex knew, but he did not notice the chemistry between the two older men. They had found equals in each other that no one could ever fill. While both men had flirted with Moira (one obviously more successful than the other) it was each other that they fancied.

Alex remained impassive as he winced inside.

This could only go bad for Moira.

Hank seemed to sense Alex's tumultuous thoughts. "You know, he has to learn that for himself," he said quietly. Charles and Moira disappeared behind the tree line. "More importantly, Moira has to learn that for herself."

Charles did not miss the conversation the young men had. He did not mean to pry, but they were broadcasting very loudly. Charles made a mental note to train them properly. He did value their privacy wanted to help them quiet their thoughts – especially if it had anything to do with he and Moira.

However, they were right about one thing: he was in love with Erik (and probably always will be, Charles thought bitterly), but he also knew that he needed to move on. (Erik is not coming back. You must move on. This brooding, this depression will consume you). Charles knew that he had feelings for Moira in the beginning – pretty strong ones, in fact, but never had the opportunity to act on them. And once the angry young German was placed in his path, well, Moira never really stood a chance. He briefly, oh, ever so briefly, felt bad about having Moira as his second choice (not that he would ever tell her); she obviously deserved someone who loved her and only her. A brief look of pain crossed his face. Charles was having second thoughts. Again.

"Are you alright?" Moira asked noticing and mistaking the brief spasm of pain.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," he responded smoothly. "I still get phantom pains every once in a while. The doctors tell me that it will eventually go away."

"Charles, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say," Moira said stopping his wheelchair and facing him, her hand was on his arm.

He looked up at her and smiled sadly. "I know, Moira, my dear. I know," he looked straight into her eyes. "I know." Moira bit her lip finally break eye contact with him. That strange blossoming in her chest began again despite her best efforts to keep it at bay. Moira knew that Charles and Erik had…feelingsfor each other. And while she thought of herself as cosmopolitan, Moira could not help but feel jealous and a little angry with the situation. Her competitive streak kicked into high gears since Charles had pulled Erik out of the water. But try as she might, Moira could not get Charles to notice her and so she had pulled herself into the background working on the CIA files she had brought with them when the base had been attacked by Shaw.

Moira would be polite to both men but she would not go out of her way to seek out their company, preferring to keep to herself. She was still CIA after all, even if her superiors hadn't a clue as to her whereabouts.

So, Moira had observed their training and murmured words of encouragement. She was not there to interfere, she was just there to wait n the wings, to be in the background, to let the fledging group of special G-Men get their footing around each other. She didn't even tell anyone of her own background – not that Lehnsherr would have let her anyway.

She knew about his behavior towards her and did nothing to antagonize the sharp-tongued man. Moira did not know what she had done – besides being a human – anger him so but she knew when she was outmatched.

Charles cleared his throat, pulling her back to the present. Moira turned red. While Moira was absolutely fascinated by Charles' telepathy, she was never quite entirely comfortable with this ability to read her thoughts.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," Moira said trying not to stumble over her words. She knew she was balancing some sort of knife's edge with her thoughts and Charles. She felt a little traitorous for feeling this way.

Charles smiled at her and took her hand again, choosing not to comment on what she was thinking. Moira, clearly, did not know what to say. "How long do you plan on staying?"

"As long as you need me," she whispered, saying the first thing that came to her mind.

Charles tugged on her hand, pulling her closer to him. "I was hoping you'd say that," he said and kissed her. Moira blinked and kissed him back relishing the feel of his lips on her's. His hand slipped behind her neck and pulled her impossibly closer to him. He felt her smile against him and broke their kiss off. He returned her smile. "Shall we tell the boys? I'm sure they're dying to know what we've been up to," he said winking at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Moira burst out laughing and lightly hit Charles' arm. She moved to start pushing Charles back to the mansion when he caught her again and pulled her into his lap. Moira shifted a little uncomfortable. "Relax, my dear," Charles said resting his forehead against her's. "You won't hurt me."

Moira nodded and bit her lip, not saying anything.

Charles did not say anything for awhile, trying to figure out what he wanted to say to her. He shrugged internally and plunged right in. "When I first met you, I really wanted to sleep with you. No, let me finish please," he smiled and shushed her, "I found you to be refreshing, earnest and besides you were pretty damn sexy," he said winking. They were still forehead to forehead and his arms held her firmly in place. He felt a little silly saying this to her, but Charles felt that he needed to say it anyway.

Moira snorted but stayed quiet. Her mind was reeling at what was happening between them.

"I know, you know the rumors," here he paused and cheekily winked again bringing a blush across Moira's cheeks.

"You're incorrigible, Charles Xavier," Moira said laughing.

"That is what I am told" he said and kissed her soundly.

A few days later, Charles brought them all together in his study.

"There are a few things we'll need to do before we make this an official school," Charles began.

"Yeah! We need more students," Sean piped up. Alex shushed him.

"True, but before that, we'll need to rebuild Cerebro," Charles said smiling and turned back to Hank. "Do you know what we'll need?"

"Of course, I do," Hanks answered proudly. "I did design it," here the young scientist paused and looked forlorn.

"What is it," Moira asked placing a kind hand on his furry arm.

"It's not like I can go into town like this, let alone to the places I need to go to rebuild Cerebro," he said sadly.

"Don't worry, Hank, we'll think of something," Sean said smiling at him.

"Yeah, maybe you can call it in and we'll act as your proxies," Alex chimed in.

"Brilliant ideas," Charles beamed at them, waves of joy washing over all of them. Hank nodded in agreement and started muttering to himself pulling out pen and paper, writing lists, and drawing sketches. Charles left Hank to think quietly before turning his attention to his other two sons. (If the truth were known, Charles thought, these young men aren't that much younger than me. Charles suppressed a laugh. But sometimes they sure do act like they're my sons!)

"Now, for the both of you," Alex and Sean sat up straighter. He smiled at them. "It would be…difficult for me to go on these recruiting missions. So, Moira and I will be prepping you for them."

"You mean, we get to go travel by ourselves," Alex's eyes are as wide as saucers. "I've never be traveled anywhere by myself before," here Alex paused, clearly troubled.

Moira and Charles glanced at each other. "What is it, Alex," Charles said finally.

"I…um…I'm kinda afraid to fly," he muttered, not looking at anyone. Alex could feel everyone looking at him, which made him only want to sink deeper into himself.

Sean blinked. "But we made it to Cuba and back and you didn't freak out."

"This is different," Alex said not elaborating. After a bit, he finally added "you know, I lost my little brother in a plane accident, don't you?"

Understanding washed over Charles. "My son, we'll get through this," he said gently. Alex glanced at the professor and smiled shyly. "So, do you think you can handle it?"

"Yes, yes, I think I can," Alex said trying not to let the doubt cloud his mind.

Charles pulled back and regarded them all again. "You know, we'll have to think of some sort of training and educational curriculum."

Here, Sean and Alex groaned and buried their heads in their hands. Charles grinned at them.

Moira chuckled out loud, this time, "it wouldn't be much of a school without a curriculum, now would it? Between the three of us – "

"Three of us?" Alex said cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, yes. Charles, Hank and myself – "

"Where did you get your degree," Hank asked, genuinely curious, his eyes lighting up.

"Funny that," Charles butted in, "You should be referring to Moira as Dr. MacTaggert."

"Impressive," rumbled Hank looking at her in a new light. "What's your specialty?"

"Biochemistry," Moira responds without missing a beat. "From Oxford, actually," she added.

"What are you doing in the CIA then," Alex asked. "You could be doing experiments like Hank."

"Honestly? The CIA is just a side job," Moira shrugs. All four men tuned to look at her not believing her. "What? It's true!"

"That's a little messed up, Moira," Alex muttered.

She merely smiled. "Alex, my life's dream was not to be a CIA agent, but to establish a research facility regarding biochemistry and how it would affect mutations in people if placed in certain circumstances. These mutations that the four of you have could not have been anomalies. There must have been something to trigger the mutations. If I can find this trigger, I might be able to predict who might manifest a mutation and help that person cope with it and how to control it better possibly saving them and other's lives."

Complete and utter silence met her when Moira finished.

"What?" Moira blinked.

"Nothing, nothing," Charles said and tried to regain his train of thought and not let it wander. If Charles was being honest with himself, Moira's intelligence was incredibly sexy. He swallowed his lust and tried valiantly to fix a neutral expression on his face. Moira hid her grin and let him continue. "Right, so where were we? Yes, rebuilding Cerebro, recruiting students, developing some sort of educational curriculum for students, and making sure the rooms are ready." They spent the rest of the afternoon discussing their plans for the future.

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