It had been weeks, and Raven was starting to get worried. Surely Erik would have been able to get in and out of whatever cell these people had put him in by now. She had never seen anything able to hold Erik for long. That it had been weeks and he still hadn't contacted her was worrisome enough in itself.

As she paced her room, she rested a hand on her swollen belly. The baby had been unusually active tonight, kicking and figeting and turning over nonstop. It was as if the baby knew how stressed and frightened she was, and was absobing it itself.

God, but she hoped the baby wasn't an empath; thankfully, he was more likely to be a teleporter like Azazel or a shapeshifter like herself. Though she had only known Azazel for a few months, the older mutant had taking a great liking to her. One thing had led to another, and here she was, eight months pregnant with their child. It had been a terrible blow when she had realized the father of her baby as well as her best friend had been stolen away from her.

Hence, their current prediciment.

She continued to pace as she tried to think through her options. With as large as she was right now, there was no way she would be able to go in and rescue Erik herself. She wasn't even sure where he was. She could get the other remaining members of the Brotherhood to aid her, but they still had no idea where to start looking. With a heavy dread settling in her stomach, she realized she had no choice but to go to Charles for help.

Staring out the window, she frowned at her reflection. She was blue skinned, scaley, red haired, and yellow eyed. With a flick of will, her skin turned pale, her eyes went blue, and her hair lengthened and curled in blonde tendrils. Her human mask stared back at her in the window, and she sighed, wrapping her arms around her stomach. She would do this, go to Charles for help, because she had to. She had to find Azazel, and Angel, and Erik. There was no choice.

She was standing outside of the house in Westchester a few hours later. For a long moment, all she could do was stare as memory after memory assulted her. She saw a younger version of herself, in all her blue and red glory, chasing after a young Charles as they played tag in the front yard. She saw them both as teenagers, relaxing on the patio, Charles a beer in his hand and Raven a joint in hers. Though Charles was eyeing her unhappily, he hadn't said anything. They weren't all happy memories, though; she also saw Charles run out of the front door, eyes blown wide in panic as their step-brother Cain tore out of the house after him, a hateful, burning look on his face. It made shivers run down her spine, until she reminded herself that the Markos were never going to bother either of them again.

With one final fortifying breath, she pushed her memories aside and made her way up to the door. It felt odd knocking, but she knew she couldn't just walk in like nothing had changed.

It took a few minutes for someone to answer, but she could hear someone stumbling around behind the door. Finally, the door slid open and Hank was stood there, in all his geeky wonder, staring at her with huge eyes in both shock and surprise.

"Raven!" he stuttered, shoving his glasses back up his nose. Raven smiled back at him, a bit confused as to why he wasn't blue and furry like the last time she had seen him.

"Hank," she answered, smiling up at him sweetly as she reached out and tugged him in to a hug, that was slightly hindered by her enormous belly.

As she pulled back, she couldn't help but ask, "How are you like this? The last time I saw you...," she trailed off, her face set in confusion.

Hank seemed to blush right down to his roots as he stumbled over his words. "Well, um. After Cuba, I started working on a serum that would help me keep my mutation under control, so I could blend in with everyone else better. After a while, I enhanced it a bit so it would help Charles, too."

Raven reeled back as if she had been slapped. "What exactly does that mean?" she asked icily, and suddenly Hank was taking big steps back. She followed him further into the house, slamming the door behind her as she stormed forward. Charles was trying to hide his mutation, now? What happened to 'Mutant and Proud'?

Hank was just now recalling how scary Raven got when she was angry, and was kicking himself that her ire was now thrown onto him. "Um, well, you see. After we got back from the hospital, he wasn't in the greatest state of mind. He was depressed, and exhausted, and in terrible pain. Not just physical, though," he stated, his voice taking on a hard edge. "He couldn't control his power any longer, and he begged me to help him. So I did," he ground out firmly, glaring her down. What right did she have to be angry about this, when she hadn't even been here to help when Charles had needed her the most.

"Where is he now? I need to talk to him, it's important." She saw Hank's eyes flash yellow and quickly covered her stomach with her hands, her mouth tightening as she stared back at her old friend.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Hank muttered, but his gaze trailed up the stairs, and Raven knew exactly where her brother would be. Without a backward glance for Hank, Raven stomped up the stairs and straight to her brother's room. She banged her fist against the door and waited in indignant fury for the man to answer her.

It was silent on the other end, and Raven continued banging until she heard an annoyed grumble from the other side. "Bugger off, Hank!" he shouted, and then it went silent again. She gave up on knocking and just shoved the door open, not surprised to find it unlocked. She found Charles sprawled on his bed, dressed in a stained white shirt and pajama pants, along with the grungy brown dressing gown he had had since he was eighteen.

The room was in disarray; the light filtering in seemed to be coming in through a dusty filter; Charles didn't even look like himself. His hair alone had her questioning just who this man was in her brother's bed.

"I told you it wasn't a very good idea," Hank grumbled from behind her. With pursed lips, Raven stepped into the room and slammed the door in Hank's unhelpful face.

"Hank, stop slamming the bloody doors," Charles complained.

Raven just stood there, leaning against the door, until she got her voice back. "Charles." That was it. No feeling behind it; no hope or happiness or regret or anger. It just was.

The man's head perked up at her voice, confusion creasing his brow as he shoved his long hair out of his face to turn and look at her. "Raven?" he asked, the same shock and amazement that had been on Hank's face mirrored on his own.

She didn't smile, her eyes didn't warm, she didn't relax under his gaze. She stalked forward and hit him as hard as she could on his leg. He jerked in shock and pulled his legs closer to his body.

"What am I thinking right now, Charles?" she demanded, praying that Hank hadn't done what she thought he had. What if this stupid serum was permanent? Then how was she supposed to find everyone? She was getting desperate, and that desperation was making her erratic.

"Raven, I promised I wouldn't read your mind," Charles reminded her, though the way he said it told her it was just a diversion. He didn't want to asnwer the question, because he didn't know the answer.

Suddenly she wasn't at the side of the bed any longer, but right up in Charles' face. "Don't lie to me. What have you done, Charles? What have you done?!"

His face shuddered into something dark and angry, and to her shock, he shoved her away and stood on his own two feet. They were nearly the same height, but right at that moment he seemed to tower over her.

"What have I done? Me? I had just been shot, I was bleeding, I lost my legs. And what do you and Erik do when I needed you with me? You left me there, with no way off the fucking beach, while I was injured! Then, I was stuck in hospital for months while they tried to fix my spine. And did either of you ever think to come check on me? No! You were too busy being assholes together. Good riddance, I say!" he spat out, shoving her away from him as he stumbled toward the desk against the wall. He splashed whiskey into a semi-clean glass and proceeded to down the entire thing in one quick swallow.

"No, you are not going to blame this all on me," she growled, reaching out and twisting him around to face her. How far he had fallen in such a short amount of time, she mused. He was falling prey to alcohol just like their mother, falling back on poor intimidation and self-pity. "Yes, we left you on that beach, but you told me to leave. I knew you would be fine."

Charles scoffed so hard Raven thought he might be choking. "Fine. You call this fine? I am barely holding on, and I am dependent on a drug that I don't think will last me for much longer. Without it, I will lose my legs and, most likely, my mind. But no, you knew I'd be fine," he said with an ugly sneer on his face.

Raven stomped to the window in rage, her hands covering her face. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't come here to argue with Charles, she had come to ask for his help. And now she realized that he couldn't help her even if he wanted to. He was broken, now.

She let out an agonized scream into her hands and stared down at the floor, no idea what to do now. She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt a hand on her shoulder, tugging her towards a chest she had lost herself in time after time. It was comfortable and familiar and she couldn't stop herself from reaching out and holding onto her brother for dear life.

"Raven, I don't want to argue with you. We have both done stupid things in our lives, but you are still my baby sister, and you will always be my baby sister. Do you agree?" he asked in a near-whisper, almost afraid of the answer.

Sniffling, Raven smiled into his shoulder as she squeezed him. "Of course I agree. You're my brother, no matter what." She pulled away and wiped away her tears, and Charles smiled calmly down at her, all traces of anger and resentment gone.

"Now, let me get a look at you. I haven't seen you in nearly a year, you know," he said with a grin, holding her shoulders as he pulled away and looked her up and down, his eyes widening when they landed on her stomach. "Well, now. That's new."

With a watery smile, she nodded and wrapped a protective arm around her stomach. "It's due next month," she said with pride shining in her eyes.

Charles was glad that his sister was happy, and expanding their little family. He eyed her shrewdly after a long moment and then reached out and slapped the back of her head. She looked up at him in shock, reaching to touch her head where he had slapped her.

"What was that for?" she asked, scandalized. He had been happy not two seconds earlier.

"What the hell were you thinking, Raven? You're twenty-four years old. Honestly, I leave you alone for a year and this is what happens? Not that I'm not overjoyed for the little tyke to get here, but Raven!" Now it was his turn to sound scandalized.

Raven pouted and fell down into the closest seat. Her situation was starting to creep back up on her far too quickly for comfort. To her horror, she found her eyes prickling with hot tears that she couldn't hold back.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Charles asked, kneeling down to look her in the eye. "Why are you really here? What has happened?"

The wail that escaped past her lips broke Charles' heart, because it was full of agony, pain, and fear. "A-Azazel, and Angel, and Erik," she whispered.

"What? What about them?"

"Someone took them. First Azazel, and then Angel disappeared, too. I told Erik to go bring them home. And then he disappeared, too. It's been weeks, and he hasn't contacted me yet. Something's wrong," she explained, her gaze intense and powerful. Charles didn't doubt her for a moment. Whenever she got feelings like this as a child, she was usually right.

"I'm so sorry, Raven. But there's nothing I can do to help. My powers, they've become too unwieldy. I can't drown out the voices anymore, and the pain from my legs is far too terrible. I... I can't, Raven," he whimpered, hiding his face in her shoulder, much like she had done to him earlier.

She let him draw some comfort from her for a moment, and then whispered, "Are you sure, Charles? Please. I'm begging you. I need to get them back. I need them here. And you won't be alone, this time. You won't be alone with the voices, Charles; I'll be here with you. Please," she begged, and Charles' heart clenched painfully in his chest because Raven never, ever begged.

With a shaky breath, he stared back at his sister, the girl he had protected and loved and watched grow up before his very eyes. He could not deny her this; not when he knew he could help her. He nodded, then. He would do this, no matter how painful it would be.

"Of course, sister dear. I cannot deny you a thing, you know that." He kissed her forehead, and then pulled back and stared at the closet door for a heavy, tense moment, before he nodded towards it with an almost palpable fear. "Could you get my chair, then? I'll be needing it once the serum wears off."

Raven followed his gaze, and he watched as her face turned even paler than usual. But she did as he asked, and pushed the dusty wheelchair out of the dark closet and closer to his seat on the bed.

Raven kneeled at his feet and leaned her head against his knee. "I'm so sorry, Charles." She raised watery eyes up to his and said in such a small voice, he could hardly hear her, "Thank you, so much, Charlie."

He anchored himself in the feel of her hair and closed his eyes, leaning into her warmth and familiarity. God, but he had missed her. They stayed in that position until the pain started creeping up his legs, escalating until it was nearly unbearable, and then it all dulled down to a constant background roar as the voices started coming back bit by bit. He could hear Hank muttering to himself downstairs, wondering what they were still doing in his room. He could hear Raven's constant mantra of find them, save them, keep them. Oddly enough, he could also hear Raven's baby's thoughts, that were more emotions, colors, and feelings than actual thoughts.

"Alright, Raven," Charles grinned shakily, a shuddering breath leaving his lips. "Let's go do this."