A/N: I'm so sorry to continously leave you hanging! But sometimes its what must be done...Only a few chapters left!
Charles bit on his bottom lip, scared to look up and see Erik's face. The thought hurt him enough. He couldn't imagine what was going on inside Erik's head.
"How can...how do they..." Erik started to mutter. "They've not been here 24 hours...how can they can they possibly..."
Charles couldn't find the heart to give Erik his predictions for the moment. All he could manage was a mumbled 'I don't know' every couple seconds. The two sat in their separate chairs, eyes locked in on various fixtures throughout the room.
Saying Erik was heartbroken was an understatement. Only two days ago he was childless. As of yesterday, not only was he once again a father, but he was a great father. His children knew nothing of him, and in under a few hours they were able to grow to love him. And he was able to return said love. And that act was becoming easier and easier. Something he wasn't sure what to think of quite yet.
Charles had his predictions. Ones he wasn't able to voice to Erik because he was afraid what would become of his words. Ones he was scared to even allow himself to think. Ones that questioned the trustworthiness of the source. Or rather, not so much the source, but more so the trustworthiness of the information. And not the information, but something along the lines of how the information was acquired. But he truly hoped his predictions were wrong.
However, he knew the longer he waited to announce them, the worst Erik could get.
But now really wasn't the time.
xxxxx
There are three types of hotels. The ones that don't care who you are, or how much drugs you smoke, and let you stay anyway. These hotels tend to be run down, unsanitary, and normally downright dangerous. Normally located in secluded places with poorly working lock systems.
There's also the ones that families use. The places that are safe, cozy, and acceptable enough for their lower-end price. These are the ones that have continental breakfasts, friendly room service people, and swimming pools. And loud children.
And then there's this place.
This villa that costs thousands of dollars a night. This villa that has enough rooms for ten people, even though there are only two of them. This villa that has a full kitchen, even though everyone who will ever stay in it is rich enough to just get room service. This villa that has a service person on call at every second of every day.
All of it was something Angel could never get used to.
Alright, even though Emma wasn't even paying for it, Angel knew that if the CIA had refused to, she would have done it herself. It's just the kind of person Emma was.
But however spectacular the hotel may be, that was where the goodness ended. They had barely done anything since Janos and Azazel had left. And now with Janos dead, and Azazel off on his own, there was only Angel left for Emma to bitch at. Which definitely had more disadvantages than advantages.
Though now the letter had been sent to Charles, so hopefully she'll start doing something besides watching Emma 'The Ice Queen' Frost tidy her nails.
Providing The Prof falls for it, which Angel knows he won't. She knows how smart the man is, and he most certainly isn't dumb. He'll suspect something at the very least. She'd be crazy to think any of this near Emma of course. She's not as trustworthy when it comes to privacy of thoughts like Charles always was.
How utterly thoughtful of you.
This is of course the time that Charles chooses to contact her.
xxxxx
How utterly thoughtful of you.
Cerebro ll was bigger and better than its predecessor. Not only was it huge and more comfortable, but it was sleek, shiny, and unbelievably modern.
It hadn't been hard to locate Angel, for she was only a few miles out of Langley, Virginia, and that fact alone confirmed some of his worst of suspicions.
Please don't overreact, I'd just like to ask you a few questions, and judging by those last few thoughts I accidentally picked up on, I have feeling you won't mind answering.
Charles felt her mental nod.
He quickly reached out for other people near Angel, most specifically a certain telepath, relieved to find no one in the area.
I'm going to try something Angel. It may take a lot of strain on my part, but I think it'd be for the best. I'd like you to stay where you are, and just trust me.
Another mental nod.
It took most to all the strength Charles had, but from the domed room in Westchester, New York, he reached out with as much force to the hotel in Virginia. Thinking soft, calm thoughts - in an attempt to cause Angel as little pain as possible - the wrapped himself around her brain. With even more strength, he projected an image of himself into her brain. More than an image. A 3-dimensional hologram of sorts of himself. The little strength he had left was used to hold this image as he sat down on the couch across from Angel in one of the many sitting rooms.
"Now I don't know how long I can hold this, so we must be quick, but..."
Angel's eyes grew huge. "How are you right there?"
"I'm working on expanding my range and capabilities, though they're nowhere near as strong as I'd like..."
"Charles! Quit being modest! You're freakin' amazing!"
Charles gave a soft, nervous chuckle. "Alright, I suppose. Though, if we could get off the topic of me, and get to my questions while I'm still here..."
Angel appeared to be suddenly more nervous. "Uh, yeah. Sure. What'd you want to know?" Charles could feel the guilt rolling off her in tidal waves.
"Um, let's just get straight to it...was the letter we received today bait?"
Angel in took a deep breath and whispered bellow her breath, "Yes."
"And you guys are working for the CIA,"
"Yes."
"And they asked you to send it to us?"
"Yes."
"But all the information is stuff they actually have."
"Yes, but Professor..." Charles held up a hand for her to stop.
"I don't need any excuses, because I do not blame you. However severely disappointed I am in you, I do not blame you."
"It was the only way they'd let us stay free. Or at least free to some degree. They let Emma go if she worked for them, and Emma quickly found Azazel, Janos, and myself. The CIA didn't trust you guys off on your own. They proposed the letter to bring you to them. And Professor, Moria...she..."
"Has fed them all the information on us, yes, I know. Except for Wanda and Pietro. That was Emma I presume."
Angel warily nodded. "...I swear, if I knew they were...I would have never..."
"I need you to understand, that I still lay no blame on you." Charles gave a wince and massaged a finger on his temple.
Angel rushed to his side, "Are you alright?"
"I'm...fine. It's just a lot of strain..."
"Here let me..." She moved to help Charles' headache, only for her hand to go straight through the projection.
Charles gave another shaky laugh, "Well apparently that's not going to work quite yet...I'm sorry Angel, but I think I've over-stayed my brain's capacity, but I thank-you for answering my questions and..."
"Charles, I..."
Charles had a hard worked look on his face, "I'm sorry but I must be..."
"...I want to come back," Angel whispered as Charles' image slowly disappeared.
xxxxx
When Charles woke, it was dark out the window, and he was piled under his comforter. He couldn't have been asleep long enough for it to be night, so he only figured that it was ironically raining.
As he began to open his eyes, he saw Hank sitting in the corner of the room, though as Hank noticed Charles' stirring, he darted out of his chair. Then down the hallway yelling what suspiciously sounded like, "Erik! He's awake!"
He couldn't have been out that long, could he?
But before he could even ponder on the thought, his bed was filled with one very large person, and two very small persons. His room was filled with even more. Both Wanda and Pietro were jumping on the bed, excitement radiating off their faces. Erik's face was filled with what was more relief. As for the other beings in his room, Charles could see none of them. The three Lehnsherrs made sure that they were the only ones getting full attention.
"How long have I..."
"Nearly two days," he heard Hank pipe up from somewhere in the background.
The telepath attempted to make eye contact with the furry blue mutant, but his line of sight was compromised by a very distressed looking metal-bender.
"Are you alright?" he asked, almost sounding like he didn't know the answer.
" 'm fine..." Charles responded as he attempted to push himself up into a sitting position.
"I don't think so..." Erik quickly said, pushing him back down. "What happened? The last time I saw you we were reading the letters, and then next thing I know, we found lying unconscious in Cerebro, and..."
"I think most of these answers must wait for a later date..."
"Does it have to do with...?"
Charles nodded warily, "Can you trust me on this one?"
With what looked like it took a lot more effort than necessary, Erik forced a nod of agreement. He got up out of the bed, and moved out of the way for Hank to come over, taking Wanda and Pietro with him.
"Alright, now Charles, I'm just going to run a few simple tests to make sure everything is stable..."
xxxxx
It wasn't until later that night when Charles was actually able to talk to Erik. Not that he was looking forward to it. Erik wasn't one who responded nicely to that sort of thing.
So Charles took notice to not try and bring it up. But of course the same couldn't be said for Erik. Who was currently staring Charles down, after asking one simple question.
"What were you doing?"
Charles took a deep breath and chose to start from the very beginning. "Well, when we first read the letter, I had my suspicions, and, well, I went to confirm them." Erik looked like he wanted to interrupt, but Charles quickly continued to prevent it. "And, I...I did. Confirm it, that is."
"And these suspicions were...?"
"The accuracy of the letter..." Charles muttered under his breath.
"The WHAT?" Charles didn't like where Erik's tone was going.
"I didn't exactly trust Emma..." This obviously didn't make Erik any happier.
"And why didn't you tell me about your suspicions?"
"So in case they weren't true, you wouldn't react exactly the way you are now," he said trying to sound firm, yet not angry, but he failed miserably.
Erik gave a stressed sigh, trying to calm himself. "And what did you...find?"
"Emma and Angel are most definitely working for the CIA. The letter was a ruse. They still don't trust us out here on our own."
Everything thing metal in the room began to rattle. Probably everything metal in the house. The rage was just that strong.
"I need to go."
"Erik, no! You can't!"
"Charles, we can't let them control us like this. We can't let them think they can control us like this."
"You're running on rage right now. You need to calm down and rethink this."
"The longer I wait, the more time they have to plan their attack."
"If you wait, we can plan our strategy. We don't always have to resort to violence."
"Do you want them to come here? And harm the children? Because that's what going to happen if you wait!" Erik spun on his heels, and strode into the hallway.
"Erik!" Charles darted out the door, racing after Erik down the hallway. Erik only took it as incentive to quicken his pace.
Charles was still sprinting after him as Erik slammed the door leading out to the garage. The telepath braked on his heals before nearly slamming himself into the door. He flung the door open. "Erik! Please come back!"
But Charles was too late. There was an empty spot in the garage, the one where the motorcycle used to reside.
In the distance, a cloud of dust was slowly fading on the driveway.
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