"The X-Advisors..."

"The X-Advisors..." Part XXXIV...

Disclaimer: All is Chuck's...

Part XXXIV...

"Well...I'd say the leg's pretty badly banged up and will be a nice shade of purple in a bit or so, but it's not broke." The doctor, a middle-aged kindly fellow, summoned from the University clinic, noted.

"That's such a relief..." Penny smiled, coldly eyeing Xavier lying on one of two beds.

Now, my dear...You can't expect me to give up all strategic information at once...His smile back.

"But that hand is...I'll have to set it." The doctor nodded.

"That's a shame...You'll need to put it in a cast or something?"

"Well, a splint for now, but you should bring him into the hospital tomorrow."

"You'll give him something...For the pain? I hate to see Dad suffer."

"Well, the shot I gave him should help and I'll write a prescription..."

"Oh, nothing too strong, doctor..." Xavier called. "I prefer not to be drugged too heavily." Smile at Penny.

"Sure, nothing too strong. In a day or two, you'll probably be pretty well over that, just need something to keep it from bothering you till it mends. Shameful thing, to be assaulted like that, Professor."

"Our modern world is a violent one, Doctor." Xavier shrugged.

"The immigrants and those sort, a real problem, if you ask me." The doctor shook head. "Well, Bush'll take care of it. Here's the prescription, miss." He handed Penny a note.

"I'm sure." Friendly nod. "Thank you, Doctor." Xavier smiled.

"Right. Make sure he gets in tomorrow, sweetheart." The doctor smiled at Penny who nodded.

"Thanks so much, bye." She closed door after him.

"That that professor who hangs out with Dr. Stein?" a young housekeeper asked another as the doctor passed them.

"Yeah, he looked pretty wasted this time."

"Always do, the two of them..." the young housekeeper noted. "But I thought he looked better than last time. That one with him is younger than me, I think." Frown.

"Let it go, Cheryl. You broke up with his friend, not him you." The other pointed out.

"Well...He was fun at first but then he got to always talkin' about his ex-wife and it was a downer. I woulda liked to try this one though..." sigh.

...

"Now come, Penelope." Xavier on the bed, smiled up at her glare. "You knew my leg wasn't really broken. I'm something of a stoic thanks to my years of constant pain but no one endures a true break that easily."

"I shoulda finished the job..."

"Then we'd be in the hospital or at least still trying to make our way into town with me delirious or unconscious and you having no way to find shelter. It worked out well this way. I'm still incapacitated and you have a place to lay your weary..."

"You killed my husband." Penny, grimly. "You used and killed a man who looked up to you like a dad. You killed my friends. Don't give me this smooth routine. I need you for now, yeah. But I'm going to either see you in jail for attempted murder after we save everyone or dead. That's a promise, Doctor. Don't waste breath on trying to charm me."

"They're only potentially dead....I am dead." Xavier smiled.

"Boo-hoo. Die like a man. Leonard would." She glared. "You're such a coward you couldn't bear dying alone? You had a good friend who loved you. If you had no one else, that's your doing. Weren't you the one who everyone liked? Wasn't Dr. Stein the Sheldon in your crew?"

"I was willing to die alone. But then I learned that there was a way to change everything...A way Margaret might not have died. Or Susan..." he paused.

"Would have been her daughter? That's what pisses you off? Not that she's actually Stein's kid by his own poor, sick wife but that she's not Margaret's? Dr. Stein did try you know. And you could've tried, she wanted you to."

"It would have killed her. It did kill her. She refused therapy so the eggs would be unaffected. If Stein had told me, I could have..."

"Forced her?"

"Made her see she was throwing away her one chance." He corrected.

"But...Even that I could forgive...She had, as you suggest, a right to refuse treatment."

"It wasn't that you thought Susan was Margaret's, it wasn't that she delayed treatment to try and give you a child...For your sake, asshole."

"You think I don't know that..." he eyed her. "She died to leave me something of herself...And Stein turned it into a lie...A cheat."

"He thought he was easing her mind, even yours."

"And then...My dear friend...Who had the secret, the answer, in his brilliant head, all these years..." Xavier, harshly.

"So that's it." Penny stared. "He wouldn't let you murder millions or even billions trying to do...This..."

"No one would have died...Permanently." Xavier glared. "No one will die, if you'll listen to me."

"We restore the timeline and alls well, right? You and Susie are happy, you never destroy Cal Tech, my Leonard doesn't die needlessly at the hands of a man he loved and admired...?"

"No. They don't."

"But we're stuck here. For good." Penny nodded.

"You love Leonard enough to kill for him." Xavier noted. "I love Margaret the same way."

"And now, you've failed, 'cause you trusted a crazy person."

"Debatable as to Susan's mental condition...I prefer 'unstable and volatile'."

"Screw what you think..." Penny, coldly. "Well, I guess I win. I'll see that Leonard lives. I'll see that my other self, here, marries him and grows old with him and see my friends safe. But you, you miserable son of a bitch..." she eyed him. "You'll die here. Alone. Unloved. Your best friend just down the street not even knowing you're here."

"You'll say a prayer for me, won't you?" he smiled mockingly at her.

"Sure...And thanks." She nodded. "Now I know you still have something...You're still hoping to do...Something. Try again, maybe?"

"Not likely unless Susan is charitable and this era's Stein is willing to do what he would never do..." Xavier shrugged. "Not to mention a need for computers and equipment not yet invented..." sigh.

"Perhaps I'm simply hoping you'll set the current me on the path back to virtue, my dear." Smile.