Welcome one, welcome all.

Thank you all so much for your kind words on the last chapter and to everyone reading this story and/or adding it to their favs/alerts.

Big thank you to NetteBS, Mary-Ann, oneshiika, Intothevoid, Cassie-011 and Hali, for leaving a message every time I post a chapter. You all absolutely make my day every day!

I'm sorry it took so long to update. Hope this makes up for it!

It'll mostly be from Moira and Charles's point of view. Hope that's okay! And we're finally reunited with the other mutants! (Oh, and I kept Darwin alive...)

Enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 19 - Starting over

Somewhere between Russia and the United States of America

The plane Nikolay had managed to arrange for Moira and the others was not your average commuter liner. It was all that had been available on such short notice and luckily the CIA would pay for the expenses, otherwise they would have never been able to afford it in the first place and on top of that probably still stuck in Russia. At least Moira sincerely hoped that the agency wouldn't make too much of a fuss about it. This was but a small private jet, after all. A twelve seater, but currently with only six occupants. Herself, Ann, Charles and Erik. Plus one pilot and his co-pilot.

Moira had taken a spot next to a window, leaving the aisle seat next to her empty. The arrangement was a bit different in a plane such as this and it reminded the agent more of a fancy train compartment than a normal passenger plane. There was a table situated in front of her and across from it another pair of chairs, one of them currently being occupied by Charles Xavier.

On the opposite side of the aisle was an exact copy of the same seating arrangement and this was where Erik and Ann had chosen to seek refuge for the flight back to the US. Like Charles and Moira, those two were also sitting across each other and as equally as quiet. In fact, there was a rather gloomy atmosphere hanging in the entire cabin. But the humming of the plane's engine was ever present in the background as well as the occasional rumble due to outside pressure. Considering what had happened in Russia and why they were flying back home, it was really no surprise all of them were this silent.

And at first, the CIA agent didn't really question the silence surrounding her. It had been a challenging and tiring day for all of them, but they'd already been up in the air for an hour already and there had only been one small conversation with the co-pilot after he'd explained to everyone where they could find their drinks as soon as they were allowed to unbuckle their seatbelts.

The auburn haired woman turned her head to look at her female friend, Ann, whose face was turned away from all of them. Her focus seemingly being on what was outside of her window. Though there wasn't much to see as it was pitch dark out there. Still, she sat there, tracing the rim of her glass with her index finger, slowly and absentmindedly. The contents within it was that of a clear substance. Gin. And she hadn't even taken a sip yet.

Normally Moira would have something to say about her friend's drinking, knowing how bad Ann was at handling her liquor, but after all that happened, she understood her friend and honestly felt in need to pour one for herself too. It would be very hypocritical to find fault in her friend for feeling the same way.

Moira averted her gaze to Erik Lensherr, who was reading a book. But he wasn't really absorbed in it as far as the agent could tell as she'd caught him stealing multiple glances at the caramel haired woman sitting across from him. For a moment she wondered if there was something going on between those two. But surely Ann would have mentioned it, wouldn't she?

No.

No, she wouldn't have. Ann was a secretive person. A vault with a combination that would change as soon as you figured out the sequence. If there was something going on between her and Erik, she probably wouldn't mention it to Moira. Besides, Ann was not one to fawn over another man as far as she was aware of. For as long Moira had known her the woman was always, if not mostly, strictly business. They had never really shared any stories about being in love or liking another man. Well, Ann hadn't. Moira had on some occasions and all her friend did at those times was give her opinion on it. Mostly an unwanted one.

No, as far as Moira knew, when it came to Erik and Charles, Ann was a closed book. The only emotion she had ever displayed towards those two was some form of hostility, to Charles in particular. Ann had been short with him multiple times. Whilst in turn, he'd showed her patience and kindness. Though there was that one moment, when Moira and Ann had talked about him, that the agent had managed to get some form of opinion out of her friend. On his looks to be more specific.

It had taken Moira some time and pushing, but afterwards Ann had admitted that she didn't find Charles, particularly ugly. Unlike his behaviour at times which, in Ann's words, was rude and invasive. Moira had scolded her for that comment, obviously. Charles always praised Ann. Moira frowned and shifted her eyes back to the man sitting in front of her. Unlike Ann, he was like an open book. Willing to talk about everything and ask Moira's opinion on things. Even flirt with her a little.

The corner of her mouth tilted upright merely thinking about it. That had been one of the reasons why she'd asked Ann for her opinion. Perhaps Moira rather liked the way Charles approached her and she was looking for some form of confirmation that it wasn't weird to be interested in a man such as Charles. But clearly Ann wasn't the person to talk to about those things.

However, tonight things were different. Charles wasn't acting like his normal self. He wasn't talking to her and he wasn't asking her things. Not even a little compliment or checking in with her. He was probably worried about his sister. Even though Raven was alright and he knew this, he still seemed lost in thought. Charles was never this quiet, not even when things were bad. He wasn't one to hide his feelings.

Moira watched him silently and noticed how, just like Erik, he also threw a glance across the aisle every once in a while. The back of his hand resting against his lips, while his other lay flat on the table. But one of his finger tapped the surface every few seconds. Moira remembered how concerned he'd been about Ann, though she still wasn't sure why. When she'd spoken to Ann in the hotel right before they left, she appeared to be perfectly fine. Tired, yes. Perhaps even a bit annoyed, but that happened quite a lot lately. Nothing that caused Moira any form of concern.

She licked her lips and shifted in her seat. If she kept on questioning things, things that weren't really important, than this was going to be one long flight.

At that moment she caught Charles looking at her. She'd been so lost in her own thoughts that she had missed him turning his head back her way again. Moira quickly gave him a small smile and she could feel her cheeks warm up. He couldn't have been watching her for that long. She opened her mouth, ready to use this as an opportunity to start a conversation, but Charles suddenly got up.

"I think I'll pour myself another drink. Would you like a refill, love?" He asked her politely. "Something stronger this time perhaps?"

It was as if he'd read her mind. Maybe he had. But Moira didn't mind it all that much considering she wasn't thinking anything indecent or secretive. "Gin please, with some soda water?"

"Coming right up." He threw her a wink and walked away with two empty glasses.

As he passed the other table where Ann and Erik were seated, Moira expected Charles to stop and ask them for a drink. Only he didn't and Moira sat there, watching him walk towards the back of the plane with a surprised look. Did he know that Erik and Ann were not in need of a refill? Charles was a courteous person, most of the time, but this behaviour confused her. Not that it was necessary to offer them a drink as Ann had barely touched hers and Erik,- well, Erik seemed completely uninterested in everything around him, except for his book and the woman sitting on the opposite side of the table.

The CIA agent leaned back in her seat and stared out the window, wondering why she was even bothering with this. There were more important matters to occupy her mind with. Such as what was going to happen to the destroyed research base. What were they going to do with the remaining mutants? What was Sebastian Shaw's next plan going to be and how were they going to stop him? She let out a soft groan crossed her arms.

Meanwhile, Charles had arrived at the small bar at the back of the plane. He could not find a moment of silence within himself, feeling the need to move about, but considering they were in a plane 30.000 feet up in the air, there wasn't much space to move within. His mind kept flashing back to Russia, to Ann's hotel room and most specifically their talk, which was far from over. But they couldn't finish their conversation here, not with Moira and Erik present. This was between him and her and Charles did not want anybody else there for it.

He poured gin in Moira's glass and scotch in his own. He then reached down and opened the door of a low fridge and grabbed a bottle of soda water. A short clank sounded as he dropped it onto the floor, but managed to stop it from rolling down the aisle with his foot just in time. It was hard to focus on such a simple task while there was so much else going on. Aside from how he was going to make things right with Ann, there was also the case on how to deal with Shaw and more importantly what to do with the young mutants who were currently waiting for their return at the CIA base.

He wanted everyone to stay together, essentially he wanted to see this through to the end. But Shaw had proven to be dangerous, more dangerous than they'd given him credit for. Charles wasn't ready to get this close to losing his sister again. Again he couldn't help but think about earlier today, about Ann and how it had all been thanks to her mutation that he was able to warn Raven about Sebastian Shaw.

Charles sneaked a glance in Ann's direction. She wasn't looking his way, her eyes were still resting on the vast darkness of the night on the other side of the window. He wetted his lips swiftly as he observed her. As always he was so tempted to peek into her mind, tonight was no exception but there was more of an urge compared to normally because of what had happened between them. He'd screwed up so many times by now and it's not like she could get even more upset with him than she already was. Thus, Charles took in a deep breath and focused his mind on hers.

Don't stop thinking of me,
Don't make me feel this way,
Come on over here and love me,
You know what I want you to say.

Charles frowned as the words of an Elvis Presley song echoed in his head. She was singing in her mind. It was hard to describe what that sounded like exactly, but it was usually a mix of the person's own voice combined with that of the artist who sang the song. It was a rather weird phenomena and one of the more weirder things he tended to encounter when using his powers. Of all the things he had expected, it had not been Ann singing a song. Especially Elvis. Charles knew Ann wasn't fond of the King's music.

But it wasn't difficult for Charles to deduce why she was thinking of one right now. Although he was a little surprised that she seemed to know the words. But no doubt she was thinking of it because Elvis Presley had been agent Frank's favourite artist. Raven had gone on about how she and Ann had to listen to a Elvis and only Elvis whilst in the car with Frank. He knew all of the songs by heart and had sang along to all of them while they'd sat with him that day.

Don't be cruel to who a heart that's true.
Why should we be apart?
I really love you baby, cross my heart.

Charles couldn't stop his mouth from forming an apologetic smile as he listened. Clearly she blamed herself for Frank's death, though there was nothing she could have done to prevent it from happening. Ann probably realized this, she was no dummy, but that didn't take away how she really felt about it. Another subject he wished he could talk to her about, but every little possible topic seemed like a risk. A reason for another fight between them.

Christ, he hadn't felt this miserable in a long time.

Charles was about to walk back to his seat with his and Moira's drink, when he caught something moving on Ann's arm. She wore a thin silver bracelet on her right one, which was currently propped up on the table as she rested her chin on her hand. The bracelet moved with a jerk and Ann's arm now hoovered midair between her and Erik. She turned her head with a furrowed brow and an annoyed expression crossed her face. If one did not know what was going on, it was a weird sight to behold. But Charles merely had to move his eyes to the man sitting on the opposite side of Ann to see what was really happening.

Erik had lowered the book he'd been reading and held one of his hands upward and aimed at Ann. He was the one causing her arm to move involuntarily through the use of his powers of controlling metal. Ann cocked her head and threw Erik a puzzled look as the bracelet kept pulling her arm up and down a couple of inches. Charles couldn't see Erik's expression, but whatever he was expressing caused Ann to roll her eyes and shake her head as her arm slowly lowered towards the surface of the table. She smiled briefly, which probably meant Erik had been smiling at her too.

The small exchange caused Charles to feel a tug inside his stomach. With a scowl adorning his face, he stepped away from the bar and headed back to his seat. Without looking at Ann and Erik, he handed Moira her gin and soda water while holding a firm grasp on his own glass. But instead of sitting down in his chair across from her, he turned on his heel in the middle of the aisle and set his elbow on the backrest of the chair next to Ann.

"So,-" He started as he took a quick swig of his scotch. "In a few hours we'll be back in the states and I think it might be a good idea to discuss what we should do next."

"Check the damage on the base." Moira immediately replied, happy that Charles was finally starting a conversation between all of them. "And the states of Raven and the other mutants. I bet the whole attack frightened them greatly."

"Naturally." The telepath answered. "But what's the next step?"

Charles went quiet and his eyes moved from Moira to Ann and then to Erik. Erik had put his book completely down in the meantime and he was staring back at Charles. It was easy to guess what the other male mutant was feeling. If anything, he was probably the one completely and fully committed to continue their hunt for Shaw, no matter what was going to be thrown at him. Charles bobbed his head, indicating he wanted Erik to speak up.

"Erik?" He eventually added. "Have you thought about it?"

"You know I have." Erik said. "And I think it's rather obvious what I think we should do."

"Care to elaborate?" Moira asked him.

"We keep going. Shaw went after us because he knows we're a possible threat to his plan. He tried to make us join his cause but now that that has failed, he won't hesitate to kill us if we cross him again. Which leaves us with two choices." Erik shifted in his seat and raised his hand, showing his thumb. "One, we pull back. Let the CIA and whatever other agency is out there, deal with Shaw."

He looked at Ann for a quick second before raising his index finger. "Or two, we pick up where we left off. Acknowledge this minor setback and,-"

"Minor?" Moira spat with slight disgust. "We lost good people out there,-"

The upper right corner of Erik's mouth twitched. "Like I said, minor. Compared to what more he could have done. We come up with a new plan to capture him. At least he can't use his telepath anymore, which is a huge win in my book." Erik leaned back in his seat. "I'm sure you I don't have to tell you what I suggest it is we do...but in case that wasn't clear, I choose option 2."

"Well, now that we know what Erik wants,- Ann?" Charles turned his head and lowered his eyes at the woman sitting almost right below him. "Do you have anything to add?"

A part of Charles expected Ann to shake her head or simply agree with everything which Erik had said, but to his surprise Ann turned around to properly face them all. He clasped his hold around his glass a little tighter with anticipation for what she was about to say. He wasn't necessarily hoping for a masterplan or anything in that direction, but what he was hoping for was a hint of confirmation that she wasn't planning on leaving them because anytime soon. Something he'd come to fear after today's events.

"I'll be surprised if the CIA still want us around."

"How do you mean?" Moira asked. "They need you guys. They've already experienced what it was like to engage with him. Twice now. They'd be foolish to rethink that thought."

"I'm afraid that we'll have to take into account that, after what Shaw did to the base, chances are more than likely that they don't want to associate themselves with us anymore. You've seen how most of the agents at the facility reacted to Raven, Hank,- to all of them. And that was before Shaw attacked them. It'll be even worse after this."

She had a point. A solid one, one that had crossed Charles's mind as well. He agreed with Ann. He didn't want to back away from any of this, but he also didn't want to put Raven through the verbal abuse and taunts she was bound to experience once more if they were to stay with the CIA. He didn't want any of them to go through that.

"Alright. Based on that assumption,-" Moira continued. "What do you want to do? I know this is probably not the right time to ask this, but do you even still want to stay with us after seeing what Shaw did?"

It was a question which Charles had been wanting to ask Ann as well, but he hadn't gotten the chance to yet. More so because he didn't want to know the answer than for the sake of there not being any time for that question to be asked. Moira had no idea how much he'd screwed up, she only knew that Ann had seen through Raven's eyes and that she had seen the whole thing happen, but other than that she was clueless as to what the real reason was for Ann to have fallen unconscious afterwards. He was thankful that Moira was the one to ask Ann this rather important question because if he would have, there was a higher risk of Ann saying no simply to either spite him or because she would actually mean it. He had no idea if she'd given it any thought as of yet, or if she did and had already made up her mind.

If it turned out that she was planning on leaving them once they were back in the States, then Charles would have no other choice but to beg her to stay. He had to come up with probably a dozen of reasons why leaving them would be a terrible mistake. But truth was, he had nothing to barter with. For a second his eyes shot to Erik. If anything he might have some influence on that matter as those two had a shared past and Charles was convinced Erik didn't want to see Ann leave them either.

He redirected his attention back to Ann and watched her quiet and hopefully. For a swift moment he caught her eyes looking up at him, but she quickly shifted her gaze at Moira again.

"I thought about it. A lot. And I find myself still going back and forth on it. One thing I do know, is that I do want to see Shaw taken down. That monster has to be stopped and,- I'm sorry, Moira." Ann apologized with a sigh. "I don't trust the CIA to come through for us if we continue to help them. It'll only be a matter of time before they turn on us."

Moira stared that Ann with wide eyes. It was no surprise how Ann felt about the CIA, but she never once voiced it like this. Charles wasn't surprised as he knew how she felt about the CIA, despite having helped them in the process of finding Shaw. Had it been because of the last couple of weeks or did somebody else have an influence on her that she now dared to show this strong sense of hostility?

"Look,-" Moira started, as she moved out of her seat to stand in the aisle next to Charles. "I've known you for a long time and I know you've always gone out of your way to make sure they never found out about you being a mutant. And now that they know you are, you're more scared. But it shouldn't change anything. You helped so much with this,-"

"It shouldn't but it will." Erik interrupted. "You know it will. You're only lying to yourself if you think it won't." He paused and looked up at Charles. "Humans have a history of hunting down that which they deem dangerous for lack of understanding or because someone is powerful enough to convince them that something is wrong. Witches, Heretics, Jews, just to name a few. Mutants are next on this list."

Charles felt caught at an impasse. He didn't disagree with Erik, how could he? He was a scholar, he understand the human mind and body. But the problem was that he believed people were capable of change. It always took time and convincing but eventually those once misunderstood would be accepted overtime, albeit it slowly and with hard work. But in all honesty, he also didn't trust the CIA. He didn't want to put any of them in any more danger than was necessary.

"I guess there is only one solution then." Charles said as he chucked back his scotch. "None of us deem it safe to be around the CIA any longer."

"Charles,-" Moira opened her mouth, but he quickly held up his hand signaling her to be quiet.

"But we stand a better chance against Shaw than they do. Therefore, I suggest we continue what we set out to do but without the CIA watching our backs." He lowered his arm and looked at the others. Erik nodded in agreement, looking incredibly pleased. That was not the case for Moira who was feeling torn between supporting them or risk the loss of her job. But it was Ann who Charles ultimately ended up locking eyes with.

He inhaled deeply and held her gaze for a long time. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but she seemed grateful for what he'd said. Charles even dared to soften his expression and throw her a small smile, which she returned to his surprise and he felt his heart flutter. For the first time since leaving Russia, he finally felt a little bit better.

CIA research facility

It felt good to be back on the ground again, and it felt even better when they were all crammed in the back of a Cadillac driving back to the research facility. But once the building came into sight, everybody's mood shifted dramatically. The damage was even worse extensive than any of them could have imagined. An entire part of the building at been literally wiped out, this included the entryway, several corridors and offices. Even the dome, which Ann had always thought looked like a gigantic golf ball, had been completely destroyed.

The car maneuvered through the rumble that had fallen in the middle of the driveway and ultimately came to a halt in front of a couple of concrete blocks preventing it from going any further. But it was exactly where they all needed to be as Raven, Hank and the others were sitting right there, waiting for their arrival on a pair of wooden benches. Charles immediately made his way out of the car the minute he spotted his sister. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her into a hug.

"Raven." He whispered. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"I'm happy you're here." She said to him, her eyes shimmering.

She looked tired from all that had happened. She hadn't had any sleep since the attack. There had been no time and even if there had been, she probably wouldn't have been able to. Raven turned to the others getting out of the Cadillac and she walked up to Ann and Erik to greet them too.

"At least we're all back together now." Raven sighed with relief while hugging Ann, she pulled back and smiled at Erik. "I don't think I've ever been that afraid in my life."

"And you don't ever have to be." Charles assured her as he placed his hand on Raven's shoulder. "I'm not letting anything happen to you ever again. To any of you." He added as he looked at the others.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Mr. Xavier." Darwin stood up from one of the benches and crossed his arms over his chest. "But after last night, I'm afraid that's an empty promise. We're practically powerless against this man."

Charles lowered his eyes. "I know. Which is why we've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately. All of you."

A silence fell over the group as they all looked at each other, none of them seemed eager at the thought of returning back home. Back to their former life. It didn't take long for any of them to quietly agree that Charles's plan of them splitting up was not going to happen. Sean Cassidy adjusted his sunglasses and folded his hands together.

"We're not going home." The red head stated. "Most of us don't even have a place to return to."

"I second that." Darwin said as he straightened himself. "I'll be honest, I don't know how it'll be possible for us to beat this guy, but he is a madman. He took Angel from us. He was willing to kill us,- Heck, he killed an incredible amount of CIA agents. I'm not going back to driving a cab after having gone through that."

Charles blinked at stared at all of them with disbelief. "You don't know what you're saying."

"We know exactly what we're saying." Alex countered. "I was this close to attacking him, if Raven had not stopped me,- then maybe,-"

"Maybe what?!" Ann suddenly spoke up and Alex immediately fell quiet at her harsh tone. "You would have probably been dead. You should be thankful that Raven stopped you." She paused and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."

She took a step back and walked away from them. Ann hadn't meant to shout at Alex. He simply didn't know what he was talking about. He had a powerful ability, it made sense he thought he could hurt Shaw. A foolish belief and a boyish response. Ann didn't dare to think what could have happened if she hadn't used her powers to search for Raven. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at the blonde and Charles.

But that wouldn't have been enough, would it?

"I didn't really so anything." Raven interjected as she turned her head to her brother. "Charles was the one who told me about Shaw's powers. How did you do that anyway? You were on a completely different continent?"

She observed him. She'd known him for so long and he'd never ever showed such a display of telepathy before. Raven knew Charles was incredibly skilled with his mutation, but this,- this had been a whole other level.

Ann blinked and bit her bottom lip as she listened to Raven. She was right. Charles had been the one to warn her about Shaw and how his powers worked. Yes, Ann might have been the one who had made the connection between the two of them possible in the first place, but if Charles hadn't acted on his emotions,- they might have lost more people than just Angel. Why hadn't she acknowledged that before? She looked at Charles once again and caught him already staring at her. In a split second she averted her gaze again.

"We'll discuss that at another time, Raven." Charles spoke firmly at her though he kept his eyes on Ann. "There are other things to discuss first."

Raven's curiosity about how he'd been able to communicate with her mind all the way from Russia wasn't unexpected, but he didn't think it would happen this soon. They'd only been reunited for a few minutes. Besides, this particular topic weighed heavy on his heart and he honestly didn't want to talk about it, not at this moment and once he would, he wanted Ann to be there as none of it would have been possible if it hadn't been for her. She'd been his doorway and his anchor.

Raven shrugged. "Fine. But I agree with Darwin, Sean and Alex. We should stick together from now on. No splitting up again. Not after this." She paused and stretched her hand out towards Hank who was standing a couple of feet behind her.

"You with me?" She asked.

Hank smiled and grabbed hold of her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "Definitely. Although we need to come up with a plan on what to do next."

Charles groaned. This was not going the way he'd hoped. What he wanted was for all of them to go back home. Apart from himself, Erik and Ann. Maybe even Darwin as he was older than Sean and Alex, though he'd rather not put any of them into another dangerous situation, but they needed some mutants to stand up to Shaw. And Charles needed mutants who were a safer bet. Ones who didn't have power which Shaw could absorb and then use against them, but that was going to be a difficult task.

He looked up at Erik, certainly he shared the same opinion that this was too dangerous for a couple of inexperienced kids to take upon? But Charles noticed this was not the case as soon as he set his eyes on him. Erik was smiling and nodding appreciatively at the others. Shit.

"We do." Erik said proudly. "We're not going to let Shaw getting away with this. He is still a danger to the world and we need to stop him."

Charles should have seen this coming. The thought that this might happen had crossed his mind back on the plane, but he hadn't acted on it as he deemed it most unlikely. A part of him had hoped Shaw might have managed to scare the others enough to force them all back home, but clearly he was wrong. Charles took a moved aside until he was standing next to Ann, perhaps she would be able to convince them this was a foolish and dangerous undertaking.

"Please tell me you don't think I'm crazy for wanting to send them home?" He whispered to her softly. Ann cocked her head and searched his eyes.

"Does their reaction really surprise you?" She asked.

"Well, no. But that wasn't my question." Charles retorted and Ann let out a heavy sigh.

No, she didn't think Charles was crazy at all. In fact, she agreed with him wholeheartedly on it. Yes, she wanted to do whatever it would take to bring Shaw down. And though she'd rather try to prevent all of them from having to go through the same fear and angst they'd experienced last night, Ann also realized that it didn't work that way. She'd seen the panic on all of their faces last night through Raven's eyes as Shaw stood there ready to hurt every single one of them if necessary, but she'd also seen the passion and courage to fight him despite being afraid.

"Look, I understand. Really I do, I also don't want them to fight with us." Ann replied quietly. "But can we really stop them if they want to? Do we have that right?"

"You know we don't." Erik's voice sounded behind her and both Ann and Charles looked up at the man. "I don't like it any more than you two do. But they've already been exposed to Shaw. They weren't ready for him and they still aren't ready now,-" The metal bender quickly added as he noticed Charles was about to open his mouth to argue. "So we'll make them. Train them. As well as ourselves."

Ann ran her hand through her hair. She didn't see any other way, no matter how hard she looked. She also had no idea how she could be of any help, but that would be a problem for another day. She threw an apologetic look in Charles's direction before looking back at Erik.

"Alright, I'm with you."

"Das macht mich glücklich." He smiled warmly.

Charles tilted his head back and looked up at the bright blue sky, which was not at all a suitable setting for all that had happened. Or perhaps it was a sign that brighter days were ahead. The only certainty he now had was that everybody was willing to fight, including those who he'd thought would back away. As for how they were going to tackle this, that was something he did have time to think about.

It was time to go back home.

You probably all know what's coming next right? Yes, that's right! Onward to the mansion! That means it's time for relationships to change. Romance anyone?

Which brings me to the poll results. So far it's 3 votes for Charles and Ann as the main pairing. 3 votes for a three-way relationship between Charles/Ann/Erik. And 1 vote for Erik and Ann as the main pairing.

The poll is still up on my profile, so feel free to cast a vote if you haven't but still want to.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as always I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

German translation: (German is not my 1st language, if there is an error, please let me know).

Das macht mich glücklich - That makes me happy.