A/N: For some rubbish reason or another, this chapter took all of forever to write.

Word Count: 2,879

Chapter Nineteen: The Wonder Of Skype

When Charles woke the next morning, it took a while for him to remember where he was. The events of the previous day seemed like a million years ago, and yet lying next to him was a closer reminder of his reasons to smile. Charles turned over carefully, not wanting to disturb the peace. Erik was still asleep, with no signs of waking to see the daylight anytime soon. After a moment of holding his breath and wondering exactly how his messed up life had finally given him something good at last, Charles carefully climbed out of bed and crept out of the room. He wondered whether Raven had stayed over also, since there had been an awkward moment last night when they had finished dinner, and no one knew what beds they were supposed to be sleeping in. But when Erik had followed Charles into the bedroom that they had shared together earlier in the day, the problems had been solved. It also meant that their fragile relationship was moving in a direction that was as unfamiliar to Charles as it was welcome.

It appeared that Raven had indeed stayed; she was currently in the kitchen making scrambled eggs and singing along to the radio. The nervous smile on her face at seeing her company told Charles two things, firstly that things were still not back to rights between them, and that secondly Raven was nervous about tonight. The second problem had been last night's topic of conversation at dinner, and it obviously hadn't put Raven at ease. As much as Charles had been keen to keep Raven out of it, he had been persuaded to let her help him. If Raven cancelled on Shaw, then he would immediately know that something wasn't right. It wouldn't help Charles to have Shaw on the defensive, and make his task even more difficult. Raven had to be part of the plan also, or as far as it allowed.

"So I suppose you two are getting serious then?" Raven asked as she turned back to the stove, busily moving the eggs around in the pan. "I'm glad."

"Are you?"

"Yes," Raven replied after a pause, taking the pan off the heat. "It's about time you found someone you were scared of losing. Everything has always been a game to you."

Raven scraped the eggs over some toast, and then placed the plate in front of Charles.

"I'm not taking your breakfast Raven," he said, pushing the plate back towards her.

"Don't be silly. I'll make more," she insisted firmly. Charles guessed that she would rather be busy during this awkwardness. "Anyway I don't blame you. We didn't have the most normal of childhoods you and I. At least I had you to look after me, you had no one."

"I had you," Charles replied.

"It wasn't the same," Raven said, looking back at him sadly. "I was too young to realise how much you had to struggled through. But Erik makes you happy. I can see it. Surely now you realise what has been missing?"

"There have been many things missing," Charles concurred. Raven was right about that; there had been a gap in his life that he had been unknowingly seeking to fill. "I don't begrudge my responsibilities, looking after you and my mother. Trying to hide what makes us unusual only made us more alone. Life would have differed had my father not died when he did, we would have been different people today."

Charles paused to eat. He didn't want to sound as if he was complaining about his life. He didn't want Raven to feel guilty about adding to the responsibilities had had been too young to undertake. She had been the only person who had ever accepted him, and stood by him through it all. The only person until he had met Erik.

"All I ever wanted was a for a few hours on the weekend where I could be someone else for a while, and forget everything I had to be responsible for. I just wanted to be selfish for a while. But I never meant for you to get hurt Raven. You're all that matters to me," Charles added earnestly. He was ashamed of himself, but facing the feeling now became a kind of healing for so many things that had gone wrong. His life was changing; he'd never have to be that conflicted person again.

Raven smiled. She'd admired the way Charles always seemed to be in control of everything, juggling his mother's eccentricities, the demands of his job, his unusual powers, and his ability to just keep on going. He was always the one she went to with her problems, and she suspected that Charles had been burdened by many other secrets in his life also. It was only now that she realised that she had never stopped to look beyond the surface, to where Charles was frantically trying to keep up with the demands of his life. No wonder he took every opportunity given him to be reckless.

"And now you have Erik to care about too," Raven corrected him. "Except you don't have to look after Erik, if anything, he'll look after you. You certainly need someone around to tell you no."

Charles looked as if this was an alarming prospect.

"And now also Erik," Charles agreed with a smile. He looked down at his plate and continued to eat. There was no way to deny it; Raven had always been a better cook than he had. After a few mouthfuls, Raven joined him at the table with her own plate. She noticed that the smile had slipped from his face. "If I mess things up with Erik, I don't know what I'll do," Charles confessed.

Raven reached across the small table and took his hand.

"You won't mess things up," Raven assured him. "I mean what else could you throw at him? Except for tonight… I think you should tell him everything you're planning." When Charles didn't reply, Raven realised something she hadn't considered yet. "Your plan will only work if Erik isn't in on it, am I right?"

"Raven, I'll do anything to keep you safe. If it means Erik ends up hating me, then I'll just… I'll… At least you'll be safe."

Raven groaned. That was so Charles. It was clear everything was a hairs breath away from blowing up in all their faces. Erik would end up losing his job, Raven knew she'd dumped, and Charles…? Goodness knew. Exactly what did Shaw want from Charles? Raven had only heard Charles' story, and of course she had no reason to doubt him, but there were two sides to everything… right? And now Charles was going to risk his relationship with Erik too? Was there any good left to come of this?

"So I just have to pretend everything is all hunky-dory with Sebastian tonight? While you mess about doing whatever it is you're planning. And then what? I just ditch him, and pretend it never happened? What if something goes wrong? I wont know, I wont be able to help you. And what about Erik? You're going to deceive him too?"

"I already have been deceiving him," Charles said. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"What are you…"

"I will make everything OK. I promise Raven. I just don't know if Erik will forgive me…"

Raven decided not to comment any further, it was clear everything was resting on a knife-edge. She would not rest easy until it was all over. As they continued to eat in silence, Erik arrived in the kitchen still looking bleary eyed, he walked past them both with only a 'hmmp' for a greeting, and got himself a glass of water. Raven watched Charles' face flush slightly.

"Good morning Erik," Raven greeted brightly, her stomach knotted slightly, was Charles really going to risk all of this for her? "Can I get you some breakfast? We've got eggs, toast, cereal… but really you can have whatever really, there is this magic thing called room service..."

"Toast is fine," Erik said, as Raven started to stand up, he added. "I can make it."

Raven looked back at Charles. He was watching Erik ask if he was sure he might disappear should he look away. But there was a sort of surprise on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe Erik was here in the first place. It was strangely satisfying to know that Charles could lose his cool just like everyone else.

"You look worried," Charles remarked after Erik spent a few minutes scowling at the bread, and then scowling at the toaster, before finally scowling at the toast.

"I was just thinking… there was something you wanted to talk about wasn't there? Before this whole thing with Shaw happened… I'm just waiting for you to spring it on me, like you always do." There was a hint of bitterness in Erik's voice, and Charles realised that for all he might say and do, Erik was feeling unnerved by the direction Charles was taking them all in. For all he might say to try and convince Erik that there was nothing between himself and Shaw, there was still going to be a doubt. Charles knew he needed to try harder to convince Erik of his importance to him, by having being so honest in the past, he'd paved the way for Erik's imagination to run away with the situation. It was partly this that would make his plan tonight work. All in all, it was a mess.

Raven frowned and looked to Charles for an explanation. It took a while for Charles to think back to a time when his mind hadn't been blown by the insanity that was Raven and Shaw. There had been something he'd wanted to talk to Erik about, it had seemed to pale into insignificance, now Charles remembered its importance. There was no reason why Raven couldn't hear too, there had been far too many secrets for too long.

"Alright, wait here," Charles instructed. He returned in a few minutes with a laptop computer, and started logging into his Oxford University network. After a while he pulled some documents up for Erik to look at. "These are Sean's, Hank's and Alex's assignment drafts. Tell me what you think."

Erik raised an eyebrow. He didn't want to tell Charles that asking for his opinion was pointless, that he'd understood very little during the lectures he had crashed, so he decided to humour him. Raven was looking over his shoulder, her eyes scanning the page much faster than he could read, but she kept her comments to herself. It was only when he clicked the next essay that he understood what Charles had been surprised by. Even Raven gasped.

"They've all written about human evolution in the form of mutation, involving extraordinary abilities," Charles explained after both Erik and Raven looked at him with surprised expressions. "In regards to achieving powers, the like of which we three possess. Don't you think that is strange?"

"It's very strange," Erik agreed.

"It's freaky," Raven clarified with more bluntness. "Do you think they know?"

"No, not about us," Charles replied taking his laptop back and closing down the files. "But there is something unusual about this. I think the only way to get to the truth is to call them out. Fancy checking on your flat Erik?"

Erik didn't know what Charles was suggesting, until it became apparent that Charles was trying to Skype Erik's home computer. He didn't even know he had Skype, it was obviously something Charles had downloaded without him knowing. He didn't know how it happened, but suddenly Alex's face was staring back at them all, looking worse for wear.

"What the hell professor? Are you spying on us?" Alex demanded rubbing at his eyes. "When your text said turn the PC on, I was expecting something more exciting."

"What the hell have you done to my flat?" Erik shouted, his eyes travelled past Alex and into the mess behind him.

Charles followed his eye line and saw what Erik was seeing. Empty pizza boxes littered the living room floor surrounded by spilt bottles of beer and half drunk bottles of wine. Charles smiled; it appeared that the students had been partying hard all night and where feeling a little rough this morning. Erik on the other hand was obviously worried about his upholstery and his carpet. Maybe that would teach him not to invite university students to his home, and especially not to let them have free rein at the liquor cabinet. Charles could tell that his expensive whiskey had not survived the night either, it's empty bottle lay on the coffee table. Erik must have spotted it also.

"Oh, whoever drank the bourbon is in trouble," Erik commented, finally cracking a smile. He looked sideways at Charles. "You want to charge them for that?"

"They'd never afford it," Charles replied, giving that up as a lost cause, the thought of the students mixing the stuff with coke and butchering the taste would only make him wince. "Are the others around?" he asked Alex.

Alex looked behind him. It seemed Sean was passed out on the sofa, meaning Hank and Angel had probably been lucky enough to snag the bedrooms.

"No, but I can get them up if you want to speak to them?" Alex offered. He was starting to look worried now, like what had seemed like fun and games last night had seriously pissed off his hosts. He wondered how much that bottle might cost to replace, and whether he really wanted to know.

"Alex, did you know that your essay covers the same topic as Sean's?" Charles asked, trying to broach the subject gently.

"What? No!" Alex exclaimed surprised. "I didn't copy anyone, I swear! Hang on… are you saying Sean copied me?"

"Sean's essay topic is the same as Hank's," Charles continued ignoring Alex's scandalised face.

"Sean copied Hank too?"

"No, idiot," Erik chipped in. "You all wrote about the same thing!"

Alex was silent for a moment before he started shouting.

"SEAN GET UP NOW! HANK! YOU COPIED MY ESSAY!"

Sean jolted awake, springing up from the sofa as if he was on fire, and both Angel and Hank came hurrying into the frame. They looked alarmed, until they realised there was no real emergency. Now Angel was scowling and Hank was looking flush faced and as embarrassed as always.

"No one copied anyone's essay," Charles said, "but we do need to talk about this. You've all written about mutations as the gaining of what might be considered super powers."

"Super powers," Sean repeated looking as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd woken up to. "Am I still drunk?"

But the shared look that crossed everyone's faces was that of concern. No on wanted to be the first to speak and certainly no one wanted to reveal any secrets they had been hiding. Charles wondered whether it was advisable to involve Angel in this, but he couldn't think of any reason to leave her in the dark. He personally trusted her enough not to drop him in hot water with the university for this very inappropriate trip to London, and Charles was going to be far too busy with Shaw to worry about other secrets being leaked. It was best they all knew the score.

"I suggest before Erik blows a fuse over the state of his flat, you all tidy up before… say, seven? And we'll take you all out for dinner before we go out tonight. But I want a question answering when I arrive…" Charles said directing his last comment at Alex, Sean and Hank, "I want to know truthfully why you chose to study genetics."

Charles could tell that neither Erik nor Raven thought much of this question; they would most likely have been more straightforward. But this way it gave everyone a chance to come to terms with having their secrets outed. Fortunately Charles had plenty of recent experience with that feeling. Erik ended the conversation with some scowling at the mess, and then shutting the laptop down.

"I really hope you know what you are doing," Erik said to Charles' annoyingly smiling face.