Wow, guys. This has been awesome, but sadly all good things must end (at least I hope its good). This is the last full chapter. Plan to see an epilogue, and I have an idea for a small short snipt also, but other than that, we're practically done! Thank you to all!

The few of them that had decided to accompany Charles on his crusade had all crashed in the same hotel that night. Even though the idea of five, full grown people sharing one room left the hotel receptionist a bit skeptical, the mutants simply ignored any sense of opinion. It had been a long, trying day, and the concept of having your legs straight without standing was promising.

All of the younger ones were in various stages of sleep deprieved-ness. Alex was in what Charles was assuming was the point where you're 'so tired you can't sleep.' On a good day, he'd be able to explain the situation, but of all the things today was, good was not on the list. Hank had his eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping, but he seemed to be murmuring something to himself. If that was normal behavior for the mutant, Charles hadn't the slightest clue. Both of his boys were asleep in the two most comfortable chairs available in the room. As for Raven, she was simply out cold on the same couch Charles was also helping occupy. Erik had a chair pulled in from the kitchen right next to the telepath's side of the couch. Why he insisted on the wooden chair, Charles didn't know. He too was asleep.

It was hard to imagine that less than an hour ago, the room had been bouncing off the walls with energy. The bickering and pestering between the three had been playful and healthy until they finally crashed.

Charles couldn't determine if the noise or silence was better.

"Chaarles..." he flinched as Erik stirred and muttered through his grogginess. "Have you slept at all?" he questioned, as his eyes awkwardly flooded open and closed.

"Uh..yes?"

"Don't lie to me Charles. I can tell when you're lying to me," Erik mumbled. He somehow managed to keep his tone light.

"No..." If Charles hadn't been slouching before, he definately was now. His eyes also became suddenly entertained with design of the floor.

"You can't always expect everything to go over perfectly without unintended violence. Nothing always works out peacefully." Charles didn't want to secretly admit to seeing the truth behind the statement. "No matter what happened to Emma, no one is going to think of you any less. You're always going to be Charles Xavier, the man who turned their life around."

"I know, it's just..."

"It's not just anything. You should sleep. Stop fretting about something inexistent. Don't create some crazy scenario in your head. Just get some rest."

"Alright, but Erik..."

The other mutant quickly shushed him. "If you need more convincing, it can wait til tomorrow."

"Right." Charles suddenly felt ashamed for an undescribable reason. Either way, the currently faith he was getting from Erik convinced that he was still wanted. That he was still needed. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

xxxxx

The light was beginning to peak through the curtains when Erik finally awoke the next morning. Unsurprisingly, all of the team was in the same random spots he had fallen asleep to. Thankfully, the group of dozers included his telepath.

After the few minutes he allotted his body to wake up, he stood up to head out and get food for the crew. He walked into the adjoined kitchen towards the table where he had set his jacket and hotel card the previous night. Before heading out, he checked the curtain, making sure it covers the window fully, immersing the room in darkness.

When entering the hallway, Erik slowly inched the room door closed behind, hoping to create no squeaks or slams. Once closed, he headed towards the stairs. They were only on the second floor and any idea of using the elevator was pointless.

It couldn't be later than 6, but even at that time, the lobby was bustling with people. Most of them seemed to be foreigners rushing to make the dire meeting they were about to be late for.

Luckily for Erik, that didn't apply to him. That didn't mean he didn't want to get out quickly though.

When he finally managed to get through the lobby door, the fresh morning air calmed any aggravated senses. He set off in a quest for the nearest bakery of some sort. Unknowing of where to go, he tried his luck and headed right first.

Within no more than five minutes of walking, his nose told him that his gut instinct of right was a good one. Through the breeze wafted the scents of various coffee flavors and freshly baked breads. It wasn't very much of a building, much smaller than the ones surrounding it, but MaMa's Bakery sure smelled like it could give other competitors a run for their money. The name was quite inviting too.

Once Erik entered into the small café like place, he realized how much of an understatement /giving their competitors a run for their money/ was. The place was packed. Most tables and couches were occupied, and with that, the line was also heavily occupied. He stepped into said line, and let the aura of the place seep in more.

The variety of people there was jaw-drop worthy. There were the expected business people and college aged students, but along with them were the middle aged couples and even a few more elderly ones. Most groups were engaging in lively conversations, while others scrambled to finish homework assignments or were reading today's newspaper.

From what he could tell from the distance, the cover of one of the men's newspaper had what was unsurprisingly a picture of the car crash. Erik new it would have been a miracle if the crash would have gone by unnoticed. Luckily, Charles and himself had tried to be pretty loose ended to the police officer yesterday.

"Would you mind if I asked you a couple questions about the crash here?" the police officer said to the two of them in front of him.

Erik tried to give Charles a pleading look, hoping he'd say no.

"Not in the slightest."

Typical Charles.

The officer must have been expecting that sort of answer because he immediately responded, "Great, okay. So, about what time do you think this happened?"

"It couldn't have been any later than 12:30," Charles stated very matter of a factly.

Okay, so apparently Charles was going to take charge of these questions.

"Could you please describe to me what happened here?"

"Well, first I heard the squeal, it sounded very, um...tire on pavement-ish? And so I looked over that way..." he said pointing towards the tree, "and it looked almost due to the water which makes sense...it all happened so fast, and next thing I knew they were in the tree, and, uh, that's about it, I think."

Erik knew within the first sentence, that Charles was not fine. He was not his Charlesy self. Charles didn't stumble over words. He didn't stutter. He didn't say filler words. Charles was a passionate professor. His rants were something that made you drop everything you were doing and get sucked into them, even if you didn't give a crap about the Scottish Revolution. His devotion to everything lulled you in as you were hypnotized by the sing-song of his voice. Even in the most stressful of times Charles was able to keep his cool. And he was most definitely was not keeping his cool now.

Yeah. Something was definitely up.

"Do you agree with everything Mr. Xavier said?" the officer asked directly towards him, interrupting his train of thought.

"Hm, what? O yes. Of course," Erik said, stuttering. Great. Now he was the one stuttering.

"Great. I think that's all I need. I'm sorry for any trouble all this has caused you."

"Uh, yes. You're...welcome. I-it was truly no problem."

Yup. Charles was kidnapped and replaced with this imposter.

"Please talk to me about it," Erik said, placing his hand on the small of Charles' back.

Had the situation been different, Erik would have sworn Charles beamed up at him for all of a second. That fact alone nearly killed Erik. Charles had never had someone in his life who wanted to hear about his problems, let alone noticed them or asked about them.

However, after the second of beaming was up, it was back to a solemn look of self-denial. "Nothing, it's nothing. I'm fine."

"Charles..."

Charles looked like he was the glass vase on the top shelf about to topple over. "I just...I feel...this isn't me, Erik. I don't...I don't kill people, Erik. That isn't my thing. That's for you to do. I just plan everything, and watch the kids, and I...I'm like the housewife Erik. Housewives don't kill people. This isn't me...I don't know what's happ-, I don't what I'm doing, I..."

"Shhh..." Erik soothed as Charles rested his forehead on his shoulder. Erik traced circles on Charles back as he spoke. "Don't let any of this get to you Charles. You were only protecting your children. It's what needed to be done. No one thinks of you any differently. If anything, they're more proud to call you their father."

The sigh of relief Charles let out next lifted tons off of Erik's chest. "Their father? Wow, Raven was right...I really am an old fart."

Erik couldn't help but laugh. "Ah. There's my Charles."

"I can help who's next."

Shoot. He didn't know what to get. "Uh...just a, just a coffee. Black."

The waitress behind the counter told him the price. Erik hadn't heard what she said, but figured it was probably an overprice cup and handed over a handful of singles.

"Now if you'll just wait over there sir, next," she said, directing him to a different part of the counter not 5 feet away.

As he stood waiting, Erik realized how truly loud the place was. There was obviously dozens of different conversations taking place, but something was off. It seemed most of the people were looking at him.

But there was also the chance that a dozen people were zoned out in his general direction. Unless...yup, that person was pointing at him. They were definitely looking at him.

Erik tried to avoid most of their gazes. While doing so he tried even harder not to eavesdrops, but some people needed to learn to whisper in a tone that wasn't shouting.

"Is that...?"

"I think man was..."

"That's most definitely him."

"Sir?" Erik turned around to find a new waitress handing him his order cup of coffee.

He gave a small nod, "Thanks." In the back corner of the shop there was conveniently a table for one. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Erik headed to drink his coffee in some degree of solitude.

As he slowly emptied the contents of his cup, he was welcomed with the constant reminders of why he had no patience for humans. They were all obviously recognizing him for some reason, and it was only a matter of time before he found out.

When his cup was dry, he decided it was time to head back to the hotel, whether he found out about the stares or not. He reentered the line, which was much shorter this time. He didn't order too much. Just a few pastries and rolls. Enough that everyone would be tided over until they reached the mansion later today. Plus some tea for Charles.

As he was leaving, Erik noticed a folded up newspaper on the end of someone's table. "Excuse me? Are you done with...?" he asked, referencing the newspaper.

The man looked up, "What? O, yes..." He looked oddly familiar, but Erik couldn't place him. Probably just one of those faces. Most middle height people with chocolate brown, slicked back hair were.

"Would you mind if I...?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I was just going to toss it anyways," the man said, looking up from the notebook he had previously frantically writing in.

"Thanks." Erik stuffed his bag of food under his arm. One of his hands held Charles' tea while the other had the newly acquired newspaper. The bells to the shop rang and the door closed behind him. As he began down the sidewalk, he unfolded the first page of the newspaper.

The picture immediately caught his eye. There were two pictures. The larger of the two was a picture of the sleek car, crunched into the tree. The smaller was imbedded into the other, and was a picture of the crowd of bystanders. Some of the most prominent being Charles and himself.

Ah. So that explained the stares and fingers.

It wasn't until his eyes were carried upward, towards the title, that his attention was truly caught.

Fatal Crash, Not So Fatal?

Subconsciously, Charles felt the couch dip next to him. The dip was then followed by a few light taps on his shoulders, and the occasional hand through his hair.

"Mmmph."

"Charles, I have something to tell you." He opened his eyes to a grinning Erik. "Here. Come with me to the kitchen," he said, extending his hand to the telepath.

He slowly took it, and was raised out his sleeping position into a shaky stand. Erik put one arm around Charles shoulder, and led him into the kitchen. Once there, he was then guided to one of the table's chairs.

"Here. I got you some tea." Erik's voice was still a lull in the background, mostly due to his grogginess, but he took the cup anyways. He then proceeded in taking a drink. Earl Grey. The though brought a soft smile. "Oh, and I got some pastries and rolls too, if you'd like some."

The concept of food caught Charles attention, and he gladly grabbed a cherry tart out of the bag. As Erik sat across from him at the table, he realized how truly domestic the whole scene was. Here they were, in a hotel, eating bakery boughten goods, with their children only a few feet away.

"So you had you had something to tell me?" he asked with most of his tart gone.

"Yes." With the single word, his original smile began to resurface. As Charles started to raise an eyebrow, Erik spun the newspaper in front of him with one finger, and pushed it to the other side.

The drop in Charles' stomach was similar to the drop over the edge of a skyscraper when he noticed the picture. It was the same car that had been causing all of his trauma; of course he hadn't realized it when he started. But then again, he had done nothing to the car. Merely it's passenger.

Something was clearly in his chest, gripping his innards, and pulling down hard. As if his insides were a tree and each branch was being weighed down by thousands of birds.

Fatal Crash, Not So Fatal?

Charles took in a quick breath and felt a few birds fly away. A sign of hope.

Yesterday, on March 25th, a car crash, originally believed to kill two, was reported. Original reports blamed the cause of the crash on yesterday's harsh downpour and strong wind-gusts. However, with further searches, it has seemed that the cars braking system also had an impact on the crash.

Inside, driver Tom Douglas (32) and passenger Emma Frost (30) were driving down Genosha Lane, when their car assumedly lost control of it's brakes and crashed into Wagner's big oak tree. Driver, Douglas, walked away from the scene with only a few minor cuts and scratches and no signs of a concussion thanks to a seatbelt.

However, the same cannot be said for passenger Frost. She was transported to the hospital only minutes after the arrival of ambulances. This morning doctors released the extent of her conditions. When retrieved from the car, Frost had already been unconscious, explained by lack of seat belt and possibly a strong contact between head and the seat in front of her. It is believed that, had she been sitting in the front seat, she could have been killed on impact.

Nurse Jenny Kotoski explained to our reporters that, Frost was, "brought to us with obvious head injury, but no external signs." It was originally believed that Frost would not make it through the night. However at 11:43 last night, Frost slipped into a coma and is currently being looked after with the highest amount medical attention possible for someone in her condition.

Authorities have been trying to contact any family of Frost's, but have been unsuccessful. The only contact they could find was her previous boss, Sebastian Shaw, the same man who owned the Hellfire Club in Las Vegas and reported dead just over a year ago. After questioning Douglas, he claimed only to be her, "personal chauffeur and nothing more."

Nurse Kotoski further explained that, "with comas, we truly have no way of predicting when each individual will come around. Everyone is unique due to their own body and condition. Some comas last days or weeks while others can take years, if they do indeed wake up. Assuming that Frost does wake up, it could also take years of therapy to bring her back to her original self, due to the obscurity of her situation. Right now, only time will truly tell."

When Charles looked up, Erik's smile was even larger than before.

"So if she's in a coma that means that I..."

"You didn't kill her Charles."

The sentence alone cause nearly all the birds on his internal tree to fly away. He allowed himself to truly smile for one of the first times in the past few days.

Erik covered his hand over Charles', which was resting on top of the table. "You do realize that we never were judging you before, right?"

"Yes, but now I'm not judging myself now." He allowed himself a content sigh. "There will be others in the future."

"Yes, and we'll protect the children then too. And the next time. And the next time. We'll protect our current children and all of the new one's we'll continue to gain. It won't be a perfect system, and I can't promise it will always be smooth sailing, but..."

"It'll be as good as it gets," Charles finished for him.

"Yes."

"As long as I'm helping mutants, and you're by my side I feel that..."

"Hey...oh, never mind. I'll come back later." Charles turned around to see Raven standing in-between the kitchen and sitting area.

"Raven! Come eat something! Erik went out and bought us all pastries!" Charles cheerily invited.

Raven awkwardly sat at the table and took something to eat. Charles happily rambled on about something that neither of the other two made sense of. If he wouldn't have been so deep in conversation, he would have noticed Raven mouth, "What happened?" to Erik. And then he would have seen Erik proceed to hand Raven the copy of this morning's newspaper.

As Raven finished reading the cover article the words, "...and so she's only in a coma!" spilled out of Charles' mouth.

"That explains it," Raven said very straight faced.

"Hmm?" Charles said to the newest edition to his table.

"It's just the sudden mood swing," Raven began to explain, as Erik hummed in agreement. "Last night you were all 'mopey, lost puppy who thinks no one loves him anymore,' and now you're a cat showing off its huge most recent mouse. Just a sudden swing." Charles lips formed an o, "Not in a bad way. I'm pretty fond of having a prideful cat for a brother."

"I suppose it's acceptable," Erik said with a light kick to Charles' shin beneath the table.

Alex joined the group within the next half hour and took his own share of food out of the bag. He seemed unaffected with the news of Emma's coma. "Prof, I'd have followed you no matter what you'd done. And I think I speak for all of us when I say that." With that, any bird still sticking around inside Charles was gone.

The short silence was then met with Hank's loud beast-like voice.

"ALEX!"

The other three's eyes immediately locked in with Alex's.

"I may or may not have French braided his mane." The others continued to eye him disbelievingly. "What? You've got lots of spare time in prison."

That earned the large amount of laughter that erupted from the kitchen.

I would love to hear from each and everyone of you as this wraps up! Please review! And also, I cannot say thanks enough! :D