The children were awake not long after Charles checked in on them, and they all greeted him with joy. He told them Jean was going to rest this afternoon, so they could play with Charles, and they were very excited at the prospect, squealing with glee.
Wanda, for all her joy, was oddly distant and distracted. Charles noticed her staring at him quite often, not muttering a word, until one of her siblings would drag her out of her stupor.
Finally, when they'd all tired themselves out and they'd had their dinner, Charles set about putting them to bed. Nina had already fallen asleep in his arms, softly dozing, and he had gently put her in her crib; now he was trying to convince Lorna it was time to sleep. She resisted, pouting and grumbling incoherently, clinging to him. She's just as stubborn as Erik, Charles thought fondly, rocking her to sleep. Eventually, she succumbed just like her twin, and Charles placed her in her crib as well.
Pietro was yawning, already sitting on his bed. As soon as Charles tucked him in, he was out like a light. He turned then, finding Wanda still sitting in the middle of the floor. Charles went over to her, picking her up under her armpits as she reached up to him. She attached herself to his hip, and he moved his arm to support her bottom. Her nightgown smelled of soap, and Charles breathed it in for a moment. She laid her head on his shoulder, and he carried her to her bed, laying her down in the soft sheets. He tucked them around her, gentle.
"Charles?" She murmured quietly, so quiet he almost didn't hear her.
"Hm?" He was still fiddling with her sheets, distracted.
"If you love someone, you want them to be all they can be, right?" The words were a bit jumbled, but he understood them.
"Yes, darling. Love means always encouraging them to meet their full potential. It's why I challenge you with harder concepts in your schooling; I know you're very intelligent." Charles smiled at her, indulgent. He loved inquisitive minds, cultivating them. In another life, he might've been a teacher, a professor. Anything to help young, gifted children achieve greatness.
She had a very serious look on her face for a girl so young, and she nodded a little. Then, her eyes shown red, a sign she was using her powers, and a red glow encircled Charles. In a moment, it was gone, and her eyes returned to normal; but that's not all that changed.
Charles cried out, a sudden influx of voices that had been sorely missing in his head suddenly flooded in, drowning him. "Charles?" Wanda cried out in alarm, waking her brother and sisters. The younger twins began crying, the older twins shouting questions. The noise only served to hurt him more, but after a moment, he regained control of his powers. He reached out without thought, soothing the young twins to sleep.
"Wanda, darling, what did you do?" He was panicking now, hand flying to his throat. The heavy weight of the collar was still there, but he could hear people's thoughts again.
"I knew it was stopping you from using your powers, but I couldn't just make it go away because everyone would know. So, I made it stop working, but it looks like it still is. Now, no one will know," Wanda said, eyes wide and well-meaning. Charles was shocked at just how intelligent she must be to figure all that out, considering children normally wouldn't understand adults' confusing, often-times illogical, reasonings and motivations. He could see the memory of Jean telling them about the collars, what all she said, swimming at the surface of Wanda's mind, but Wanda had to have really thought this through.
Charles moved to her, dumbstruck. "Darling, you need to fix it," Charles said gently, an urgency underneath his sweetness. It pained him to even think about losing the voices in his head again, but an uneasy sense of panic settled in his heart at the thought of someone finding out. Yes, he could control people, but that would not disprove their opinion that telepaths are dangerous, and Erik- with his infernal helmet- was capable of blocking Charles out. He didn't wear it anymore, the stupid thing being useless on a telepath with no abilities, but he kept it near him at all times.
