Chapter Seven

"But I don't wanna go to bed!" Hanna whined. It was that night. Johnny was already asleep, it was only Hanna giving me trouble. "I wanna play with Mr. Alex!"

"Mr. Alex is busy," I said, trying to keep calm. "Remember? He's talking to his brother." She stomped her foot. "Hanna Lynn Pierce, if you don't get to sleep this moment, you won't be able to play with Mr. Alex for a week."

She shut up and crawled into her bed. "Night mommy."

"Goodnight," I said in relief, leaving the room and shutting the door quietly behind me. I turned to see a girl standing in front of me. "Emily. What are you doing?"

"I didn't know you have kids," she said quietly. "You don't look old enough."

"I was eighteen when they were born. Just like you will be," I told her. "You told me earlier I don't know anything about you, but I do. I was where you are five years ago. I can tell you it won't be easy, but it is possible."

"Is there a problem?" Charles asked, coming down the hall. Emily stared at him, then fled. Charles sighed. "I'm sorry, Katie."

I forced a smile. "No problem." I watched her head down the stairs. "You doing alright? You look a little pale."

It was his turn to force a smile. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. This is the longest I've been out since…"

"Maybe you should go to bed. I'll go get Hank, and-"

"No," he said quickly. "I wanted to talk to you first. It's been a crazy month, and we haven't had time to talk, just the two of us."

We had reached my bedroom door. "Come in, then," I said. I sat down on my bed. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"I did want to ask you how your brother is. You never did tell us."

"Darien's fine," I said. "He can go home in the morning, according to his doctor. And Jeffery's in jail. He has a trail set for sometime next week."

"That's good." There was silence. "Katie, are you alright? It seems like you've been avoiding me."

"It's just… What if Erik's right?" Charles stared at me blankly. "About us not being accepted by normal people? Look what's happened, Charles. He's going about it the wrong way, I admit, but… the idea's there. They hate us."

"Not all of them do. Moira-"

"Stop, Charles. Moira might not care, but she's one person. There's thousands of others out there that do care, that want us dead!"

"Katie? Charles? Is there something wrong?" We turned to see Hank.

"No, nothing's wrong," I told him, standing up. "I'm going to go downstairs."

"Katie." I glanced over at my boyfriend. He wheeled over and took my hand. "Don't care what other people think. It's what your friends think that matters, and we're all here."

I felt tears form in my eyes. "I know you are. But it seems like things would be so much simpler if the world didn't know we existed."

"Perhaps. But we would also be living under Shaw, remember?"

I brushed my hair out of my hair. "Yeah. I remember. I'm going to go downstairs and grab something to eat, you want anything?"

"No, I don't. Hank, will you take me to my room?" Charles asked. I watched them go, before I headed downstairs. Already in the kitchen were Emily and Alex, lost in a quiet conversation. They glanced up when they heard me enter.

"Hey Katie," Alex said. "You know Emily, right?"

"Yes, Alex. I went with Charles and Hank to pick her up, remember?" I told him, going over to the refrigerator and pulling out a soda. "Just give me a moment, and I'll be out of your way."

"Don't leave," Emily said quickly. "I mean, you don't have to just because we're in here."

"Take a seat," Alex said. "I have to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Did you know about Scott before today?" For a moment, I stared at him. "I mean, you couldn't have told me before you left if you didn't know, but did you?"

"I didn't know about him, Alex, until we left. I promise." It was his turn to stare at me for a moment; then he sighed.

"I just… all these years, I thought he was dead, you know? And then he shows up, here of all places, with no warning. I just wish there could have been a warning."

"I know," I said quietly.

"I don't blame you, Katie. It's Charles I'm a bit mad at. He had to have known when he used Cerebro for the first time, right? He had to know that Scott was my brother. And since he can read minds, he had to have known that I didn't know that he was alive. Why wouldn't he have told me? Why would he have kept it for me?"

Emily quietly stood up and slipped out of the room. "Alex, I'm sure he had a reason. But why don't you go to bed? It's getting late. There's no point in worrying about this now, okay? You can ask him in the morning." Alex sighed heavily, but he did as I asked.

Things have settled down, thank God. My husband made it safely to Texas this time, and my mom's blood pressure went down. My brother's still at my place, but he's been in and out of the house, and he's good with my daughter.

Also, I'm writing a new story for Harry Potter, so if you like Harry Potter, keep an eye out during the next week for it.

Anyway. Hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to reading reviews.