This is rated M for references to physical/emotional abuse and brief mention of rape in future chapters.

So, this is officially the last chapter. To all of you who followed the story from the start or joined in at some point, thank you. And for all of you who reviewed, seriously-it made posting my writing worth it. I have a couple other ideas in the works, but it could take some time, what with school/work/and the fact that I don't publish unless it's finished (I don't want to be one of those writers who doesn't finish or update because they don't know what to write)

Anyway, love you all, especially those who reviewed, like, every chapter (you know who you are 3) and I hope the ending doesn't disappoint. :)

The days after the group returned to New York were hard, on all of them. They all worried about Charles' recovery, all of them finding some excuse to stop by Erik's apartment. Erik had taken the next couple weeks off to stay with Charles until he felt well enough to be alone in the apartment again, although Erik was seriously considering moving so the memory of Jon breaking in wouldn't always hang over them. The problem with that was finding one. Finding an affordable, available apartment on short notice in New York was difficult, to say the least.

Erik was also surprised at how his coworkers stepped in to cover his shifts for him so he only had to use a few vacation days. He was exhausted, being woken up at all hours of the night to wake Charles from a nightmare and comfort him. Charles was terrified to be alone, hated being touched by anyone but Erik and occasionally Raven.

It took a while, but slowly Charles began to move on from what happened. Erik started to see the walls crack and the old Charles come out. He very carefully did not make a huge deal out of it, knowing Charles would just disappear inside his shell again.

Then came the inevitable. His hospital pager went off one afternoon about two and a half weeks after their return to New York. He and Charles were on the couch, Charles laying with his head in Erik's lap as they watched something on TV. Erik had one arm draped across Charles' chest, the other hand tangled in the brown locks of hair. Charles had linked his fingers with the hand across his chest, the other lay flat on the couch. Erik smiled down at him, happy to see him finally fully relaxed, and Charles gave him a small smile back.

Erik couldn't help it. He leaned down and kissed his boyfriend. Charles' smile widened as their lips touched and then he heard the oh, so familiar bzzzzzztt. Erik pulled away with a sigh.

Charles said quietly, "Can you ignore it?"

His mouth twisted wryly. "Sorry, love. I have to answer it at least." Charles lowered his eyes, his hand tightening on Erik's. Reluctantly, Erik disentangled himself from Charles and walked over to grab his phone off the counter and call the hospital.

Charles sat up and turned to watch him, pulling his knees into his chest and resting his chin on them. Erik ran a hand through his hair when he heard that he was needed to perform a surgery that only one other doctor could do with any success. Unfortunately, that other doctor happened to be in the middle of performing another surgery and wouldn't make it in time to save the young man in question. With a sound that was half sigh, half groan, Erik let them know he would be there as soon as he could.

Hanging up, he turned to Charles and said, "I have to go in. No one else can do the surgery."

Charles' eyes dropped to the floor and they were both silent for a minute. An idea hit him and Erik asked, "Do you want to come with me?"

Charles' gaze snapped to his. "To…to the hospital?"

"Yeah. You wanna?"

He blinked a couple times. "I…yeah, okay."

They walked into the emergency room hand in hand and Erik was relieved to see it relatively empty. Charles still wasn't all that good with crowds and Erik headed for the security guard on duty as soon as he spotted the muscular man. Knowing him would put Charles at ease a little.

"Clyde!" Erik said with a smile.

The man turned and smiled back. "Dr. Lensherr! How you been? Haven't seen ya in a while."

"I'm doing good. Little upset I had to come in on my day off but…" he shrugged.

"Well, you are the best," Clyde said and then he noticed Charles. "Who's this?"

Charles shrunk back slightly but Erik pulled him forward, introducing them. "Clyde, this is my boyfriend, Charles. Charles, this is Clyde DeMarco. He's been the security guard here for as long as I've been working here and yet still refuses to call me by my first name."

Clyde stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet ya, Charles!"

Erik couldn't fight the proud smile spreading across his face as Charles took his hand with a soft, "Nice to meet you, too."

Erik asked Clyde, "Would you mind keeping an eye on him while I'm in the OR?"

Clyde shook his head. "Not a problem, Doc. Maybe he'd appreciate some anecdotes about your time in the ER?"

Erik returned his grin. "Try to keep 'em PG, 'kay?"

"No can do, Doc. You know how it is 'round here." Clyde suddenly lifted his radio to his ear. "Oh, 'scuse me, gotta take this."

As the guard walked off, Erik tugged Charles in another direction. A young woman with long, curly black hair sat at the desk off to the right and she beamed as the two men walked up. "Miranda, how are you?"

"Can't complain."

"And Jason?" Her boyfriend was currently overseas and Erik had started to think of her like he did Raven—as a little sister, considering they were of similar age.

Her smile shook a little. "I'm not sure. Last I heard, his unit was out in the field."

Charles suddenly asked, "Where is he stationed, if you don't mind my asking?"

Erik bit his lip to hide his totally inappropriate smile. If anything, this was bringing Charles out of his shell.

Miranda turned her bright smile on him. "Afghanistan. But he's only got a couple months to go. I'm Miranda, by the way. I don't think we've met."

"Charles. I'm, uh, I'm Erik's boyfriend."

She squealed and Erik sighed. Girls; forever making a big deal out of everything. "That's wonderful! Oh, I'm so happy for both of you! Wait," her head swiveled to meet Erik's gaze as something hit her, "why are you here, Erik? I thought you were on vacation?"

"Got somebody going in for thyroid surgery?"

The nurse glanced at her computer, typing something as Charles' death grip on Erik's hand faded to a more relaxed grip. "Oh, yeah, here he is. OR 1. You've got about half an hour before he goes in."

"Thanks, Miranda." Erik leaned over the counter. "Listen, can you find something for him to do while he waits?" he asked in an undertone.

She glanced at Charles and nodded. "Hey, Charles?" He looked over and she continued, "I've got some kids in the corner by the play area that are kinda freaked out by being here and their mom's not helping. Keeps telling them to shut up so she can finish her book. Mind helping me out and seeing if you can calm them down?"

They both looked in the direction she'd indicated and saw two boys, maybe six or seven, sitting on the very edges of their chairs, looking scared. It was clear to Erik that they'd never been here before and one of them kept pressing a hand to his right elbow. He frowned. That should have been looked at before now. Well, he'd see to that once he was finished with the thyroid surgery.

Charles' voice is quiet but Erik can hear the empathy in it as he agrees to Miranda's request. Erik flashed her a grateful smile then pulled Charles aside. "I'll be back in a couple hours. If you really need me, Miranda can page me in the OR, okay? Til then, have fun with the kids."

Charles nodded, giving him a quick smile. "I'll be okay, Erik. Good luck." Still a quiet voice, but more confidence, Erik noted.

He pulled Charles into his arms for a moment, just holding him and feeling surprised at just how much he loved this man. He pulled back and kissed him, then headed for the double doors that would lead to the lockers and then the OR. Charles called him back just as his hand touched the doors and he turned around.

Charles smiled at him. "I love you."

Erik smiled back. "I love you, too."

Charles gave a little wave and headed over to squat down in front of the boys, speaking reassuringly. Erik pushed the doors open and went to change, confident that things would only get better from here, for him and for Charles.

The End