This was not what Moira had expected her life to become.

Growing up, she always felt different from the other little girls around her. They dreamed of handsome princes and flowery wedding dresses. All the things society told them they could be - good little wives to dapper men and mothers of the future of this country. Moira never bought into that. Why did she have to find a man to marry to plot the course of her life? Why did she have to give up career as soon as she found one? She'd broken up with her high school sweetheart, the man she was sure she'd marry as a teen, over an argument on college. She wanted to go, and he didn't see the point. "I'm the one who gets the job, sweetie," she remembers him saying, his voice dripping in a condescension that immediately dissolved all attraction she felt for him. "You're the one who takes care of the kids." She'd never looked back.

College was, of course, a wonderful if not frustrating experience. Her parents maintained the attitude of "Once she finds the right man" all throughout, which made her more resolute in what she wanted. She wanted to make a difference, and she finally found a way she could with the CIA after college. The work she was doing was more rewarding, she knew, than anything the women she'd grown up with were. It was exciting, adventurous, she had stories they would only dream of, and yet when she returned home for the requisite weddings and baby showers she was always asked the same thing.

"When are you going to find a man and settle down?"

She resented feeling like she had to feel incomplete without these components. It made her want them all the less. If she were honest with herself, she wouldn't mind to have a companion in life. In a small part of her mind, one she didn't entertain often, she looked forward to one day becoming a mother. But it wouldn't be for the sake of it. It wouldn't be because it was what was expected of her. It would be because it was what she wanted, and until this point, she didn't.

That changed, of course, around a set of circumstances that effectively changed the course of humanity. How like her to fall in love with a man whose very existence was revolutionary? Who fought the notions of evolution and human kind simply by being? And who her family and friends at home couldn't dislike more.

But it didn't matter, what anyone else thought. She was happy with Charles, as happy as she could be. It took time, after he'd wiped her mind, for her to regain any notion of him, something he'd done on purpose. He didn't want her to forget forever. Only to protect those closest to him.

She loved that the most, his selflessness. It made her want to do for him the way he did for her. She shocked everyone when she left the CIA for him, but it wasn't about their relationship. She saw what he was building for the future of mutantkind, and wanted to be a part of it. Wanted to support him in everything he was doing and becoming. Once things were settled with the school and Charles dream, they could take the next step in their relationship, whatever it might be.

Yet here they were, five years later, and still in the same place they'd been. She always believed that she didn't need marriage or motherhood, but then once she found someone she saw it possible with, the idea attracted her. She didn't have to give up herself to be a wife and mother, not the way the people around her had. She could still be a force within the school and make a difference. Though her involvement in the school had been waning as well.

Moira couldn't help but feel resentful at Charles over that. She'd been teaching there the last year, mainly some basic history as well as self-defense for mutants whose powers would not help in combat. When Charles sat her down and told her he'd have to cut back her classes, she was rightfully angry.

"Cut back? How much?"

He sighed a bit, giving her a sad look. "Entirely."

Moira blinked at him. "You-" she paused, collecting herself. "So I won't be teaching at all?"

"You have to understand, Moira," he reached out and took her hand. "So many of these students, they come from a place where they have been hurt by humans." Charles paused and collected his thoughts. "It has become clear that perhaps it be best they are handled by someone who can understand their journey, their persecution."

She just stared at him, brow furrowed. All that she had given up, parts of herself she cherished, to be here with him, by his side, and he so callously disregards her contributions. But could she argue with him? As a human she doesn't know mutant persecution, yet as a woman she knows a little something. As a woman who lives amongst mutants, she faces a persecution all her own. Rather than answer, she just looks away from him, unable to meet his eye.

Charles squeezes her hand. "I'm sure we can find something for you to do, my dear. With the way the school is growing, it may be reasonable for me to have a secretary-"

Not letting him continue, she pulls her hand away from him and storms out of the room. SECRETARY. Everything she'd been fighting, the gender roles she'd bucked her whole life, the partner she's chosen throws right back at her. She doesn't listen as he calls to her, just grabs her coat and walks out into the cool evening.

The further she walks, the angrier she gets. All that she'd given up for him. Her career, which she loved, she was so proud of, she FOUGHT for. She felt stupid. Had she accidentally fallen into the role that she had been running from her whole life? As she pondered, she wondered if Charles was really worth it. She often wasn't sure she was still in love with him the way she'd been in the beginning. Then it was exciting, getting to know him was fascinating. Now, well, things felt stale at times. She knew that the school came before her and while she was willing to live that way when it was all new, she wasn't sure she could do it much longer.

It was cold, even for November, and she pulled her coat in tighter. In her anger, she didn't grab anything but a coat. A stubborn part of her wanted to stay out in the cold. Childishly she thought she could catch a cold over this, then Charles would pay attention to her. That this thought crossed her mind worried her. Is that what she really thinks she needs to do to get the man she loves to care for her? The idea makes her feel sick.

Rather than play games, she feels it's time to go back inside and just stew with these feelings. She had no intention of talking with Charles about it, at least not now. She hoped he'd come to her to discuss this, and in the beginning he might have. But at this point, she knew it wasn't something to expect.

A light snow began as she walked back toward the building, contemplating her options, when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned toward it but saw nothing. Glancing at her watch, she sighed. "Whoever that is, it's after curfew. You should be inside."

She could almost make out a figure in the bushes but as she moved closer it moved away. "Hey!" She tried to catch up but by the time she got to it, whatever it was, was gone. Feeling a sudden sense of dread, she turned and headed back to the school, a bit faster this time.

On her way back, she was distracted by an odd sound coming from the direction the figure had seemed to be. It almost sounded like - Moira froze. Her brow furrowed as she headed back in the other direction. As she got closer, a small bundle came into view on the ground. She knelt beside it, reaching toward it, only to recoil as whatever was in the bundle moved.

She wanted to tell herself there was no way this was - who would do this? Reaching out again she placed a hand on the fabric and moved it aside.

"Oh my God."

The baby's soft sounds became cries as the cold air hit his skin. Moira quickly bundled him up and pulled him into her arms, holding him close. "Oh my God!"

He squirmed and cried in her arms and she clutched him tightly to her. Who could do this? Leave an infant, on such a cold night? Who would do something like this? She stood and hurried him into the school, into the warmth. "Charles!"