"Moira, where are you?"

Click.

"Next message."

"Please tell me you're not picking up because you're on your way here, things are crazy..."

Click.

"If you're doing this out of spite..."

Click.

"Moira." He implored.

Alex's last message had come in only an hour before she'd gotten the chance to check her answering machine.

Scanning the suite, she quickly grabbed all of her stuff and crammed it back into her case in complete disarray.

How could she have forgotten?

The weight of the stone in her pocket seemed to get heavier in answer.

Lightly jogging down the stairs she checked the rooms before determining Howard must be in the lab.

"I need to go to Winchester." Moira bluntly demanded as she strode into the room.

Howard blinked at her, the goggles he was wearing magnifying the motion.

"Huh?"

Thankfully, with Howard being the man he was, it didn't take much coercion to get herself booked onto a flight for that afternoon. All she had to do was explain the urgent nature of the message.

"I still don't think Dante is up to air travel yet." Howard observed as they formalised their plans. "Don't get me wrong, the kid has made amazing progress considering what he's been through. But I think for now I'd be happier transferring him back to the US by boat."

"Fine." Moira easily agreed, feeling jittery and anxious to leave. In the back of her mind she could hear the pleading in Alex's voice, so unnatural coming from the usually reserved teen.

"It'll take us a while to get there by sea though. It might also be a challenge convincing Inferno to leave," Howard grinned - Dante making it no secret how much he loved living in the lap of luxury, "but I think if Maria's last phone call was indication enough she's not going to be very happy if I extend my trip much more."

Moira softened her expression. "Oh, you didn't have to stay with us so long Howard. I'm sure S.H.I.E.L.D could have sent someone else."

"Hey, it's no skin off my back!" He quickly exclaimed. "But, if you want a way to make it even, you can be the one to tell Dante you're going off on an exciting mission without him."

Agreeing, Moira wasted no time heading back upstairs to break the news. She needed to get to the airport as soon as she could.

"I can fly!" Dante protested.

"Dante." She chastised. "It's not the flight. You don't have clearance to go on field missions. And to get clearance," she laid on thickly, "you need to go back to HQ for training."

"But..."

"I don't make the rules, Dante."

He groaned overdramatically - he was spending far too much time around Stark. "Fine."

"Great. And I'll try to work something out so I can help you with your training. Deal?"

"Deal." He grinned.

The two men insisted on accompanying her to the airport - Howard was especially keen to expose Dante to more crowded places as part of his training, though he was still sensible enough to stop in the car park where there were a few less potential witnesses.

She gave them both a hug and accepted an overly loud kiss on the forehead from Stark, before taking off with her carry-on in hand. It was going to be strange being separated from the pair after so much time together and leaving the safe haven of Howard's villa; but it would be especially difficult being parted from Dante. They'd been through so much together since their first meeting and this would be the first time they'd been apart in several weeks.

As the only person who currently shared her secret about the crystal, until Charles got into her head that was, it was impossible to deny a tight bond had formed between them. Something Howard had constantly tried to, literally, get between - often squeezing between the two whenever they sat beside each other before demanding 'Inferno's' attention or revealing some new purchase that Dante would find interesting. Including on one occasion a new sports car.

"One can never have too many cars." He said sagely, as Moira and Dante ogled over the latest addition to his villa's collection.

Undoubtedly Dante was in safe, if somewhat irresponsible, hands. Howard would probably have adopted him by now if he wasn't a legal adult. And Moira knew that Jiaying wouldn't be sending Gordon back unless they were in clear danger.

Or if Moira made the choice she was waiting for her to make.

Moira had expected to spend the entire plane ride agonising over the options before her and fretting over the potential situation she was heading towards. She still hadn't processed, and certainly hadn't forgotten, her anger with Charles and Hank; but with everything that had happened there had barely been a moment to contemplate it and she didn't feel prepared yet for a return.

Leaning her head back in her seat she wondered whether Charles really had used Cerebro to watch her, and if he done so since. Before she could even fully process the thought however, she was asleep and slept heavily for the entirety of the flight - much to the displeasure of the passenger next to her who couldn't get past to use the toilet.

Ignoring his grumbles as they disembarked, Moira was glad of the rest as she wasn't sure when the next opportunity would arise. And, if she was being honest, she'd spent most of the last few nights staring at the ceiling of her suite rather than the back of her eyelids.

She'd flown into New York city, the closest she could to Winchester at the last minute, and had to rent a car for the remaining part of the journey.

Peggy had offered to send reinforcements, to accompany Moira herself even, but she had refused. Alex's messages had come over a series of days and he already seemed confident that they could handle Erik.

Still, a SHIELD team was never far away and she had another extraction and emergency number memorised just in case.

Before she hopped into the car she went to the nearest payphone and dialled the number Alex had given her.

"Hello."

"Alex?" Moira asked, not recognising the voice over the line.

"Who is this?"

"It's Moira."

"What are you - how did you get this number?" He said, quickly changing question.

"Alex gave it to me. Who is this - Hank?"

There was a clattering in the background and whoever it was went quiet for a minute before returning to the receiver. "This isn't a good time."

"B-"

They hung up.

Glaring at the phone in annoyance, Moira set it back down and headed into the parking lot with the keys to the rental in hand.

Moira pulled up outside the door, tires grounding into the gravel as she hit the brakes with more force than strictly necessary. She was still irritated by her earlier phone conversation and with herself for feeling worried that she hadn't heard anything from Charles on her approach.

Not allowing herself to linger in the car, she got out and rang the bell.

Barely a second past before she pounded on the door with her fist, her jaw clenched.

The door flew open, colliding with something behind it, to no worry of Charles who instead strode up to her and seized her in a hug.

"Moira! I had no idea you were coming." He said brightly into her hair. "Isn't it marvellous?"

Her eyes were bugging out of her head as he released her.

"Hi Moira." Alex said with faux cheer, appearing behind him in the doorway. "How was the journey? I guess you came here via the south pole since it took you two weeks to get here - is it nice this time of year?"

Moira pulled a face at him. "I was away. I got here as soon as I could." She glanced back at Charles who was grinning wildly. And standing.

"Wh-what's going on?" She asked nervously.

"Oh, where are our manners?" Charles said, glancing back at Alex in disappointment. "Come in, come in. Have you got any bags?"

She went inside silently, trying to carry out a conversation with Alex using nothing but her eyebrows.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Charles asked politely.

Moira agreed, asking for some water, just to get him out of the room.

"What the hell?" She asked lamely as Charles walked off.

"I know."

"I mean - " she gestured after him, "how is this possible?"

Alex nodded in understanding. "Look it..."

He stopped himself and looked around the empty hallway suddenly, as if worried about being overheard. "Come in here."

Grabbing her by the crook of her elbow, he led them into one of the smaller rooms off the hall and quietly shut the door behind them.

"Hank developed this serum which can apparently make the Professor walk again."

"Oh. Well, that's..."

Moira was about to say great but was interrupted.

"But it has side effects." Alex explained nervously, looking at the door again. "His powers - his powers don't work anymore."

She hated herself for suddenly relaxing at the news, for the first time she had ever been in the mansion, but she couldn't help it.

It explained why she hadn't heard him in her approach - but she couldn't imagine Charles being able to live with such a change. He'd had his powers his whole life, why would he want to give that up?

"But he's still taking it? Why hasn't Hank stopped giving it to him?"

"The Professor thinks being able to walk again is more important. But I'm worried, Moira - a lot of us are. He's not acting like himself. He even talked about closing the school down the other day to go travelling. Moira - so many of us depend on this place. He can't, some of us have nowhere else to go."

"Moira? Alex?" They heard Charles shout loudly. "You'll have to tell me where you've gone, I can't find you otherwise."

Glancing at each other, they returned back to the hall where Moira took the glass of water Charles offered.

If only he'd poured something stronger, she thought idly as she took a sip.

"Why don't we head to my office?" Charles suggested, not questioning their disappearance.

"Great plan." Alex said, as cheerfully as he could manage. "Hey, why don't I go get Sean? You know how put out he was last time when Moira left so soon."

"Alright." Charles agreed readily.

Alex shot her a pleading look at he left.

Charles' office had been relocated to its original room upstairs.

"So what brings you back to Winchester so soon?" He asked, ushering her into a chair by his desk.

He stayed standing.

"Well, Charles. Alex called me. He sounded worried and asked me to come by."

"Alex is worried?" Charles asked. "He hasn't mentioned that to me. Did he say what it was about?"

Moira looked at him for a moment, wondering if he could really be so clueless.

"You, Charles. You."

"Why? I'm fine."

"Are you?" She said incredulously, looking up at the man she'd once thought she'd loved like he was a tentacled alien.

"Of course. Look at me!" He exclaimed excitedly, needlessly gesturing at his legs. "I can walk again, Moira. I can go running with Hank, I can climb the stairs, I can get back in my own office." He said, grabbing his desk chair for emphasis. "It's just like how things used to be."

"But, Charles." Moira continued, leaning forward in her seat. "Your powers? And Alex said you were talking about closing the school. That doesn't sound like you; can you understand why we're worried?"

"Moira. Don't you see?" Charles said, walking over to her with more energy than she had ever seen him display. "This is everything that we need. I can walk again, I can be like myself. And you," he took her hand easily, "you never have to worry about me reading your mind again. We can be happy this way.

"You can move in - and we won't close the school if you don't want to. It'll be like how it always should have been." He said, grinning crazily.

Moira's hand was loose in his. She had no idea how to react, and turned dumbly towards the door where Alex and Sean now stood awkwardly.

"Oh there you both are." Charles said, noticing their appearance as he followed Moira's gaze. "Look Sean. Look who it is."

Sean sighed with relief. "Hi, Moira. Thank god you're here."

"Erm, Professor. You're meant to be teaching a class in five minutes."

Charles looked blankly at Alex for a second before seeming to process what he had said. For a moment it looked like he wouldn't go but he eventually released Moira's hand, albeit reluctantly, and grabbed him suit jacket to leave.

"I won't be gone long. You'll still be here, won't you?" He asked her.

"Yes, Charles."

He looked at her a moment longer; for a minute his eyes softened just like they used to when he looked at her before. Then the inhuman cheerfulness filled his eyes again and he bounded off.

"You'll make him stop right?" Sean asked, as Alex said, "I'm gonna kill Hank for making that serum."

"Yeah." Moira said faintly, suddenly wishing she'd taken up Peggy's offer to accompany her.

Leaning back in her chair her newly released hand brushed the fabric of her trousers, just over the lump where her crystal was still hidden in her pocket.

Again she resisted the urge to unwrap it.

Sorry about the delay, I was writing a novel. I'm now taking a break before editing starts so I'll be getting back on track with my fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed this latest episode, let me know what you think.