Not About Angels

Chapter 14

Not even a week after Sean's death, Charles decided to shut the school down.

The quintuplets were gone in a flash and while part of Heather had cared for the odd girls, she knew that they had one another and that they were smart - they'd be fine. Eva went home soon after, her brown eyes filling with tears as they said their goodbyes, and Heather held on tightly, wishing with all her might that she didn't have to lose someone else.

Only Hank, Charles, Heather and the twins remained.

And the mansion had never seemed emptier.

Hank tried to spend more time with the twins, trying to fill the suddenly empty voids left in their lives, and Heather was grateful for that, as she had another pressing matter.

Charles.

He had taken to staying in his office until early morning and then sleeping until noon, in which the cycle would repeat. He barely ate and he barely spoke to any of them. Heather knew his heart was hurting from losing his students and losing Sean - but they were hurting too, they needed him.

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"Mommy?"

Heather rolled onto her side, eyes blinking as she focused on the figure in the doorway. Wanda stood silently in her red nightgown (red had always been her favorite color), her little shoulders hunched and her messy curls getting in her face. 

"What's wrong, baby?" Heather asked softly, pulling back her covers as her daughter raced to her side of the bed, climbing onto it with a little struggle. Wanda practically threw herself into Heather's lap, her face resting against her neck, and Heather's hair ran through her curls.

"Uncle Charlie thinks too loud."

Heather's hand stopped suddenly, her dark brown eyes blinking in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He's having a bad dream, mommy. And I can see it."

A telepath, Heather thought for a moment, before she realized that Charles most likely had no control over his power and was probably projecting his dream. "I'll talk to Uncle Charlie tomorrow, okay? How about you sleep in here? Just for tonight?"

Wanda's face brightened and Heather was shocked for a second by how much she really looked like her and Erik. She had Erik in her blue-gray eyes and in her curls, but that was Heather's smile and her nose. 

Just as she laid Wanda down and started to tuck her in, Heather caught sight of Pietro wandering into the room, his brown hair sticking up in every direction, as he rubbed his brown eyes sleepily. "Can I sleep in here too?" He asked, and Heather picked him up, unable to say no.

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Charles relocated his bedroom after that, staying as far away from the others' bedrooms as possible. And to try and help, Hank gave some his serum to see if it help with his nightmares.

Charles had seemed at peace at first, more so than he had in a few months, but later that night, the sound of glass breaking filled the hallways.

"Mommy!" Pietro cried out, but Heather shoved him into his sister's room, after the two tried to run to Charles' room - the source of the noise. "No! Stay here! I'll right back!"

Heather and Hank entered the room quickly, and both were horrified by the sight before them. Charles' wheelchair was in the corner of the room, along with shards of broken glass from a vase of some kind. Charles was laying in the middle of the floor, his hands pressed to his ears, his eyes clamped shut.

"Charles," Heather called out softly, making her way slowly to his side. "Charles," she tried again, with no response, except for the whimpers that fell from his lips. "They're driving me mad," he whimpered almost to himself.