Charles sat outside of Raven's room, staring at the wooden door with a worried frown on his face. It had been days since Raven had left her room and she had even stopped answering them when they called for her through the door. They left meals at the door and they were always picked at when they returned for the plates, so they knew she was getting at least a little nutrition. But still his little sister wouldn't leave her room. He could feel her presence behind the door, her anguish and sadness radiating through their link.

He could picture her in his mind's eyes, huddled beneath a pile of blankets and cuddling a pillow like she could will her grief away. Charles just wanted to open the door and hold her close, but he knew that she would only despise him for it right now.

"Raven. Please, come out."

The only answer was deafening silence.

Erik was hidden around the corner, watching the way Charles' shoulder slumped in resignation when the door remained steadfastly closed in his face. The professor sighed and turned his chair back down the hallway, wheeling further and further away from Erik and Raven's door until he was around the corner and out of earshot.

Guilt was a heavy feeling in Erik's chest. It was his fault Raven was so sad right now. Once he was sure Charles was back downstairs, Erik crept up to her door and used his powers to gently twist the mechanism in the lock. The door clicked open slowly and Erik peeked his head around the jamb.

"Raven?" he whispered, sounding shy and timid and small, all the things he swore he wasn't. The lump on the bed twitched but didn't move any further. Erik bit his lip but steeled himself as he took another step into the room, leaving the door cracked open behind him. Raven still hadn't acknowledged him, so once he was level with her face beneath the blankets he stopped, unsure what to do next. There was an invitingly open space at her side, just calling for him to occupy it. He debated with himself for a long moment before he sighed and crawled up onto the bed, sitting beside him. "Raven." He pressed at the lump on the bed gently. A shaky smile flashed across his face when she rolled over, glaring up at him petulantly.

She looked terrible. She was blue and scaly still, just like she should be. But the deep blue of her skin had faded to a sickly grey and her yellow eyes seemed almost orange. She didn't look angry to see him invading her bed, though. Just exhausted.

"R-Raven. I'm so sorry." He felt his face crumple, his tears starting to trickle down his cheeks. He backed away from her awkwardly, nearly toppling off of the bed in his haste to get out of her personal space. This had been such a stupid idea. If she wouldn't come out of her room for Charles, why had he thought she would come out for him? This was all his fault.

Once he had fallen onto the floor, scrambling backwards towards the door, his breathing was hitching painfully from his frightened panic. Raven would be so mad, and she would hate him forever, and what was he thinking in the first place?

"Erik," she called out, voice cracking from disuse. She didn't sound angry, though she sounded confused and surprised. "Erik, come here. What's wrong?"

Erik stopped his awkward shuffling, leaning his back against the wall instead. "Are you mad at me?" he whimpered, hiding his face behind his hands.

There was a long silence in which Erik's mind supplied her response. Of course she was mad at him, she had to be furious! Azazel was dead. Angel was dead. Everyone was dead and it was all his fault. And now Raven would have to raise her baby all by herself. Azazel would have been such a good daddy.

"Honey, look at me." Erik's breath hitched in his throat, but he lowered his hands just enough to see Raven sitting up in bed, leaning on her elbows. She looked concerned and frightened, but not angry. He sighed and closed his eyes. At least she wasn't angry. "I'm not mad, Erik. Especially not at you. You did everything you could to get Azazel and Angel back, and you paid the price for that. I'm not angry at you. I'm just really, really sad."

Erik uncurled from his tightly wound ball, taking hesitant steps back towards Raven's bed. He stopped beside her, hands twisting awkwardly in his shirt. He peeked up at her through his lashes, hoping that what she had said was true.

"I really am sorry, Raven. I miss Azazel, too. And Angel." He swallowed past the lump in his throat, trying to blink back his tears again. Raven didn't hesitate to reach out to him and tug him up beside her on the bed. He curled against her, fitting comfortably between her belly and the bed.

They laid like that for a long time, nothing but silence between them. Erik had left the door cracked open slightly and it was Alex that found them a few hours later, a lunch tray in his arms. He looked shocked when he saw them cuddling together on the bed.

"Raven," Alex breathed out, the tray forgotten on the desk in the room as he rushed in. "Raven, you finally let someone in!"

Raven smiled tiredly, shaking her head even as she squeezed Erik tight. "He just walked right in. Sneaky little kid, aren't ya?" She ruffled Erik's hair and watched as he huffed in annoyance, though he was grinning again moments later.

Alex's eyes softened at the sight. "Are you ready to come out, now? Charles has been worried sick."

Raven sighed, leaning further in her pile of pillows. "I guess it's time, isn't it?" She rubbed a hand over her belly slowly, closing her eyes in resignation. Erik stumbled off of the bed and stood by Alex's side while Alex helped Raven sit up.

She smiled at him in thanks and slowly followed them out of the room, taking a deep, steading breath before stepping across the barrier from her room to the hallway.

Erik reached up to take her hand and smiled reassuringly, tugging her along down to the kitchen. Charles was hunched over the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Hank was puttering around near the stove, humming under his breath. When he caught sight of Raven in the doorway, he startled and the spatula in his hand tumbled to the floor.

"Hank, what's wrong?" Charles asked, looking worried as he watched the tall mutant carefully.

"Hey, Raven. It's nice to see you up," Hank said instead, smiling shakily at the blue mutant. Charles twisted around in his chair, eyes wide and happy once he saw his sister in the doorway.

"Raven," he breathed, his smile blinding in its sincerity. Raven just grinned, reaching out to wrap an arm around Charles' shoulders. She collapsed to her knees in the next second and huddled her arms around Charles' torso instead, hiding her face in his neck.

"Thank you, Charles. For giving me some time, for letting me stay," she said, her voice choked full of tears. Charles just shushed her, rubbing a hand up and down her back.

"You're my sister, young lady. I would never be so cruel to you."

As the siblings reunited, Alex pulled Erik over to the table. He sat down and pulled Erik onto his lap. Erik curled close, loving the contact. "You did a good job, Erik. I'm proud of you." Erik hummed happily against Alex's chest, fisting a hand in Alex's shirt so he wouldn't set him down any time soon.

The telepath stalked across the hall, glaring at the string of empty cells. The stupid little boy and his friends had ruined everything. Her employers needed him back, and they had said that grabbing the others along the way wouldn't hurt, either.

She glared at the boy's cell, looking for any clues. Her eyes caught on a scrap of fabric in the corner and her lips curled up in a vicious smirk. The sweater, she supposed. The prisoners had been using it for warmth before the girl had been taken away, so she supposed it might have a remnant of them left behind for her to use.

Sure enough, once the sweater was in her hand she could feel the electric tug of the boy. So, he was still alive then. Strange. The experiment must have worked better than they had all thought.

With the sweater clutched in one hand and surety in her steps, the telepath stomped from the room, only one thought on her mind.

She would find Erik Lehnsherr, and he would have nowhere he could hide.