What is to Come

Chapter Forty One

Charles asked Ororo and Remy to join him as he went to inform the Drakes of their loss. He felt it should be done in person, and the others agreed. Shortly after everyone had returned to the mansion, and the baby was declared stable they set out on the four hour drive to Boston.

So much had happened in the last few hours, that it seemed hard to believe that the sun was just barely on the horizon when they arrived. Ororo wondered if they should wait for a later hour to take the news to the Drakes, but Remy insisted that it would be for the best to arrive before anyone had a chance to leave for their jobs, or in the brother's case,school. After all, he reasoned, the only thing worse than receiving bad news was receiving it alone.

Ororo had no counter argument to this so they made their way across the city to the Drakes' residence. Charles had been silent during the entire exchange never voicing an opinion one way or the other. Had they been in a better state of mind both of them would have found this odd.

It was just after seven when Remy knocked on the door, with Ororo next to him, and Charles directly behind them. Ororo was dressed in a dark pantsuit, Charles in a dark suit as well, leaving Remy to feel slightly under-dressed in his normal dress shirt and slacks that he had worn while teaching. He also made sure to wear a pair of dark sunglasses to hide his eyes, and had his hair held in a ponytail.

He hadn't been uncomfortable until he realized that Charles wasn't the one who was to speak to the Drakes first. At some point during the drive Charles had decided the news would come better from one of Bobby's co-workers instead of his former headmaster. Remy didn't agree but he wasn't asked his opinion.

Mr. Drake answered the door, with a scowl on his face when he spotted Ororo and Charles. "What do you people want here? You're not welcome anywhere near my family."

"Sir, we've come to give you important news, is your wife home?" Remy asked politely, getting the impression that this man's obvious disdain for Charles was the reason for his own presence.

"My wife does not need to be bothered by you anymore than I do, now go away before the neighbors see you."

"Sir, it's about your son."Remy said as he caught the door Bobby's father had tried to slam in their faces. Before he could say anything else his wife appeared in the hall, asking who was at the door.

Glaring at them all, Mr. Drake gestured for them to come inside, so the neighbors would not see them. " Get in here and make it quick. Your kind aren't welcome in my house."

They all filed in and Remy joined Ororo on the couch with Charles beside them as they awaited for Mr. Drake to get his son. Mrs. Drake offered them coffee, which they all politely declined. Mr. Drake returned a moment later and joined his wife on the couch.

There was an awkward silence, before Remy asked. "So is your son joining us or shall we continue without him?"

"I told him to stay upstairs." Mr. Drake snapped.

"Remy glared as Ororo sighed, and Charles finally spoke. " I'm sorry to inform you that we have come with terrible news. Late last night I'm afraid that we had an altercation with a severely unstable individual, who had abducted a pregnant mother. We were able to rescue her daughter, thanks to your son Robert."

"That's nice." Mr. Drake interrupted. "I assume everyone involved was among your kind since none of this was on the news. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Sir, that wasn't all." Ororo replied.

Mr. Drake sighed before returning to the seat he had begun to stand from. His wife frowned at him,so he gestured for them to continue. "I am sad to inform you that Robert did not survive." Charles finished heavily.

It took a moment for the news to sink in, as Bobby's parents stared at them. Then his mother began to cry as his father demanded they leave. Charles nodded and the others stood and began walking toward the door. Mrs. Drake stopped them as they were about to leave to ask them how her son had died.

"He went to save the baby, he was caught in an explosion. If he hadn't been there the baby wouldn't be here." Remy said. "He's a hero Ma'am. He saved that baby."

"He was a freak, just like you lot, and I'm sure that baby is the same. " Mr. Drake spit out hatefully. " I only have one son, the other one stopped being ours a long time ago. Why don't you people all just move to your freak island and leave the rest of us in peace?"

Mrs. Drake cried harder at her husband's words, and Charles shook his head at Ororo who seemed about to say something in response. He informed them that he would call them with the information after they arranged the funeral before leading the others out of the door.

~0~O~0~

Erik announced the discovery of the baby and the loss of Robert Drake moments after he had been informed by Charles. He then informed everyone that the funeral would be telecast to the residents of the island, via screens set up in the city center of Hammer Bay. Afterward he was confronted by his children wanting to attend in person. He refused saying that no one was leaving the island at this time. Sinister was still at large, he wasn't risking the safety of any of his people.

Many Genoshians,including Kurt and Amanda, came to Erik in the following hours and days making the same request as his children. Erik repeated his statement to each of them. No one was leaving the Island at this point, it wasn't safe. No one was entering the island without Xavier interviewing them first, and Erik as well. He wasn't risking the safety of his people, even if that meant making them feel like he was holding the prisoner.

A few days later the population gathered in the city center of the Capitol to watch the funeral. Kurt and Amanda sat with the Maximoffs and the Leeches on the dais the large screen behind them, and a second screen facing them from the other end of the center. Erik had prepared a speech, as had Kurt. Bobby had been Kurt's friend for years, he regretted his recent argument with Bobby which had left them both rather cold to each other.

Charles Xavier gave the first speech as the world watched him inform them all how Robert Drake was truly a hero. Robert's family had refused to attend, however his mother watched from home. A few television networks picked up the funeral, since word had spread that the man was important enough that Genosha had made it a holiday.

"Robert Drake was a brave and selfless man, who devoted his life defending others. He was a devoted teacher, a faithful friend, and one of my best students. He spent countless hours in defense of others who could not defend themselves. He recently devoted every waking moment to the search of a missing child, a search that though he was successful in finding her cost him his life. Robert died a hero, and shall be forever remembered for his selfless sacrifice." Charles concluded.

Scott stood last, after several speeches given both at the mansion, and on Genosha, holding his daughter with his son by his side. "I am forever grateful to Bobby. Without him I'm not sure I would have ever seen my daughter again... I wish I could thank him in person, but he died so my daughter could come home. I can never repay my debt to him, but I will do everything I can to honor his memory."

~0~O~0~

Sinister watched as well. Angered at their gloating-in his opinion- over this momentary set back. He scoffed at their speeches, at their tears. He was far more interested in what had occurred in his lab than the funeral however he decided to watch to ensure he knew what the revealed. By the end of the final speech, given by Scott Summers who thanked Robert for saving his child and bringing her home to him, Sinister decided it had been a waste of time.

After all, this was all just a minor set back. Everything would still go as planned, he simply had to adjust a few items on the agenda to accommodate for the child's ability. No doubt an unexpected side effect of the treatment. He had made a note of the incident, intent to check on the other children he treated to determinate if any of the others had prematurely developed powers.

~0~O~0~

Victor and Raven waited until after everyone had left before they approached Logan. He had remained at the graveside, knowing they wanted to talk to him. Robert's gave was near Jean's, not next to it, but nearby. Logan stood looking off to Jean's grave while leaning on Bobby's.

Victor waited another few minutes to see if Logan would speak first, when it became apparent he wasn't Victor finally cleared his throat. "So. We going after the bastard or not?"

"Not." Logan growled. "I ain't leaving them here to get grabbed again. You are though."

" I've never known you to back down from a fight Logan, ever." Raven said. Her tone left it unclear whether she approved of his choice or not.

" I'm preparing for a bigger fight, not backing down from one." Logan growled. He didn't like the idea of staying behind, but he didn't trust anyone else with the task watching over the children.

Victor nodded,understanding. He would handle this with Raven's help, Logan was going to care for the children because they didn't need the kids grabbed again that would just complicate the mission. Victor took Raven's arm and lead her away. They had a lot of planning to do.

~0~O~0~

Emma allowed herself a few minutes to break down over the news while she showered before she pulled herself together and put on her cold bitch mask. Too much was at stake to break cover now. She couldn't let the others suspect her,especially Sebastian. Finding the location of the child was only part of the mission.

Once she had pushed the pain down as far as she could, and pulled herself together she joined Sebastian downstairs. The others would be arriving soon. She sat next to Sebastian on the sofa to await the arrival of the others, he was immersed in reading the latest file he'd been given to prepare himself for office, and didn't seem to see her at first.

Emma had just begun to relax, hopeful that she'd managed to hide all evidence of her prior unhappiness, when he finally spoke. " Are you done being emotional then?" he said a he set the file aside. "Let's hope so, it's unbecoming of one of our station."

" I am in perfect control of my emotions,darling." Emma replied in her usual cool demeanor. "Your concern, while appreciated, is unfounded."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow and said in a mocking tone. "Are you denying the sound I heard from our bathroom only half an hour ago dearest?"

"Not at all." Emma replied, growing worried about the entire confrontation. Lying would provoke him, but telling him the truth would be disastrous. "I freely admit, but only to you, that occasionally I am overwhelmed by the sheer audacity of the humans to attempt to contain us. I weep in joy for the idea of finally crushing them under our boot."

"I see." he said as he hugged her to him. "For a moment I was concerned that you were grieving the recent loss of your lover. I understand he was buried today."

"Who?" Emma tried to play off." Oh you mean that Drake fellow? He was simply a means to an end. Nothing more."

"Then why were you passing information to him just a few weeks ago?" He asked.

Emma froze. Her cover was blown, she knew it as well as he did. She didn't know how he'd found out, but she knew she'd be lucky to get out of this alive, let alone unscathed. Before she could think of a response to his question, the others arrived. With them arrived the answer to how she'd been discovered. Sinister slipped into the room last. Emma decided her only chance was to try to deny it all. And escape as soon as their backs were turned.

~0~O~0~

Now that the funeral was over, and both babies were safe with their father, everyone returned to attempting to talk Rogue into going to Genosha. Kurt had called her, as had Wanda and Kitty. Surprisingly so had Logan.

Charles however, insisted that both the Summers and the LeBeaus would be safer at the mansion. For her part, Rogue was torn on what to do. Finally she decided, if Remy went she would go, if he stayed so would she. She already knew that there was nowhere on Earth that she was going to feel safe unless her husband was with her, and even then she didn't feel safe exactly. Just safer.

Scott too was trying to decide if going to Genosha was the better option or if staying in the mansion would be safer. On one hand, his family had already been kidnapped from the mansion before. On the other hand he didn't trust Magneto. He had been their enemy far longer than the ally.

Remy was suffering from similar concerns as both of the others. The mansion wasn't safe in his opinion, but then Genosha was a lot bigger, with a lot more people, raising the risk of an enemy in their midst. On the other hand, he had believed Bobby, and no longer trusted Xavier as a result. The man was clearly hiding something from them all, and until Remy could figure out what it was, he wasn't letting his guard down which is why he would have prefered if his wife was safely out of the way in Genosha.

In the end however, both the Summers and the LeBeaus stayed for the time being. Though it was agreed that there would be no more outsiders housed on the mansion grounds until further notice. Instead they would be secured in a nearby location to be kept safe.

The mansion, once so full of life, was quiet now. Ororo, Logan,Laura, Remy, Scott, Rogue and the Professor, along with Scott's son and daughter, were the only full time residents. Charles' dream of peace seemed to be crumbling before them, and they had no idea how to fix it, or if they wanted to.