The trees rolled on and on as far as the naked eye could see. Most of the trees had at least half their budding leaves. Some even appeared to have them all. Varied shades of green dotted the hillside.

But to Erik, they all appeared as a blur. He was going too fast.

The smart thing to have done, would have been to, at the very least, figured out a route. Then Erik wouldn't be going just to go. Going in the direction he saw fit.

But it did allow him to let off steam.

He couldn't have been out for over a few hours, but those few hours were enough. Enough to let him sit on his thoughts. To let him rethink what he said. What he meant. What he wants.

And he still didn't regret a thing.

Well maybe snapping at Charles, possibly. But the man was oblivious sometimes. He needed to realize that some things are for real. And Emma posed a real threat. She could singlehandedly destroy all the hopes Charles had of creating a school. Or a safe school at the least.

And she needed to be stopped.

Which is where Erik was headed.

To stop Emma.

He didn't how he'd do it.

But he'd figure out a way.

Somehow.

xxxxx

Charles stood in the doorway of the garage until all of the dirt had settled, still unsure of what just conspired.

He tried to reach his telepathic capabilities out to Erik, but was overwhelmed with emotion making him incapable. He began to chew on his bottom lip again, slowly pivoting on his heels with a light close of the door to the garage. He continued down the narrow hallway that led back into the kitchen.

Inside the main kitchen of the Xavier mansion, eight young mutants - most already at full maturity - stood still with their jaws at the ground.

"Did Erik just...?"

"Wait, where's he...?"

"Is he...?"

"What's going on?" Raven made her voice stand out above the rest of the people. "Did Erik just leave, Charles?"

The telepath ever-so-slightly nodded his head, still standing like a deer in headlights.

"Where?"

"Why?"

Thousands of questions a second were thrown across the room.

"Everyone. Shut. Up." Raven said, once again putting her voice out on top of the others. "Charles," she continued, walking towards him and putting her hands on his shoulders, "does this have to do with your recent little scare in Cerebro?"

Charles shrugged his shoulders and kicked at the ground. His eyes were fixed on the ground.

"Does it have to do with the letters?"

Charles shrugged his shoulders once more.

"Did you two fight?"

He continued to bite on his bottom lip, not even bothering to shrug his shoulders this time.

"My god, you two are so stubborn." She grabbed Charles by the elbow and dragged him out of the kitchen and into a sitting room, away from all of the others.

Raven shut the door and watched Charles trudge over to the couch like a lonely, lost puppy. He flopped onto his back like an undercooked pancake. He held a bent position that most would consider painful.

Raven sat on the edge of the couch, purposely invading Charles' personal space. "Start from the beginning."

Charles crossed his arms and let out a defiant huff.

"I'm not a telepath Charles, and when I'm determined, I get what I want. And right now, I am determined. So you may as well tell me." She was not going to get angry here.

The stubborn face Charles was trying to hold faltered for all of two seconds. In those two seconds, his face was one of such intense pain and sorrow, it hurt Raven to even try and recreate.

Raven took a deep breath, and allotted herself a second to start over and try again. "Please?"

The next sigh Charles gave was one of utter failure.

xxxxx

"So. You argued. And he left. Because you two don't agree. And Erik is overprotective. What else is new?"

Charles shook his head, clearly annoyed. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Let him let out some steam. Then he'll realize he's sickly in love with you. He'll turn around, beg you to let him back into your life. You'll blindly forgive him and all will be back to normal."

"Raven..." her brother responded, trying to ignore how /true/ her last answer was, "...but he, he... He sounded different this time. His tone, it was...it was real. Not that he wasn't /real/ before, but it was, almost like..." Charles started to trail of in thought. When he finally talked himself through it, he said, "It was the same tone he used when he told me he planned on killing Shaw."

That left Raven lost for words for a brief moment. "What do you want?"

"I think Emma definitely poses a threat, but I don't know what Erik plans, and..."

"I didn't ask what you think. I asked what you want."

"I want Erik to come back..."

"What do you want to happen to Emma?"

"I-I..." Raven watched as her brother curled into his own mental turtle shell of uncertainty.

Raven spoke as soft as possible. "You realize it's not good for us to have Emma around, correct?"

Charles cautiously poked his head out of his shell. His sky blue eyes looked lost in a world of pain. "I-I'm... Oh, god, Raven I'm scared..." His voice shook through multiple octaves. He threw his head onto Raven's shoulder. "Sh-she's so much more powerful, Raven. She knows so much... And if she tells it to them, Raven..." The telepath seemed stranded in a desert. His mind desperately reaching out for some sort of direction.

"Charles?"

"If she keeps helping them, I think...I think I'm going to lose you. All you...and Raven? I-I can't...I don't think that I can..."

He continued to sob into her shoulder. The only gesture of comfort that Raven could find doable was a few pats on the shoulder. This wasn't her job. She was supposed to get this kind of attention from him. Charles didn't break down like this. And if he did... Well that was Erik's job to tend to.

"Please don't let that happen...don't let her ruin this...Raven, please..." his voice sounded like that of a wounded soldier.

"Charles," His named came out like a scratched record. "Charles, we won't let anything happen..."

"Promise me."

Raven's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Please, promise me that you won't let, that she won't, that she'll..."

Raven held up her hand to silence him. "I promise."

Her brother's next chuckle was a painful one.

xxxxx

It was raining in Virginia. Rain. The one thing Emma Frost couldn't stand. Or one of the things she couldn't stand. For reasons, of course.

One: It was wet. And wet things get other things wet. Like her clothes. And her hair. Both which would then have to be fixed sooner than later.

Two: It tended to come with thunder. Which was loud. Which destroyed her peacefulness.

Three: It tends to make others on edge. Especially on the road. Everyone seemed to be that much angrier at each, and that much more prone to overreact.

Of course one of these people was her own personal drivers, which brought reason number four.

But today was important. So, rain or no rain, she was going to make Tom drive her. She had no tolerance for any excuses regarding the rain.

It was already noon, not that the sky was much help to that. Last night Angel had seemed...off. Not as forgiving as normal, but Emma didn't plan on pondering it for too long. She had more important things to consider at the moment.

Emma had her whole spiel ready for the heads of CIA. If Xavier (or his pet, Lehnsherr, at least) hadn't reacted yet, then the letter probably went unnoticed. But that was only the beginning. Emma's next part would certainly get a rise out of the both of them. The whole group, preferably.

All she'd need was to get the two new young mutants into their custody. If that didn't get their attention, which it would, all she'd have to do is /pull a few strings/ and they'd be begging at her front door.

Of course, once Xavier and Lehnsherr were out of the picture, she'd mind-wipe her wait out of the CIA and continue on with Shaw's ideals.

She'd explain all her plans at the meeting today, and they'd never question her again.

Emma tried to keep her cool, but the angry thoughts coming from Tom were becoming too much.

Do try to calm yourself.

"These people don't know how to drive!"

The telepath didn't even let the shout faze her. Well tell them that, not me.

"And this stupid car keeps acting up!"

"Hm." She kept her eyes on her nails.

"The steering wheel is like jammed!" His hand jerked toward the gears. With each attempted shake, the stick refused to budge. "It's like...like something's hold it on place!"

Emma still didn't seem to notice.

Tom was obviously becoming more stressed than normal as he approached the red light.

When he began pumping the brakes, he finally grasped Emma's attention.

"WHAT do you think you're doing?" she screeched.

"I told you! I can't control the damn car! I swear something else is!"

"You're crazy! There's absolutely nothing that can..."

People say that, as you're dying, the things you see, are the things you love the most. The things that mean the most to you.

But it's all lies.

You're life doesn't flash before your eyes, but instead the last things your mind tries to grasp and make sense of. The things that try to explain what's going on. These are the things you see.

Emma heard Tom's consistent whining.

She heard the rain outside.

She saw the red light ahead.

Felt the car swerve.

Saw the tree ahead.

Felt the impact into said tree.

Felt the mind of another mutant.

A mutant she knew all too well.

One who obviously did react to her letter.

Then all went black.

haha, so, um...please don't kill me for the cliffhanger? :0 and please Review! :D