Future Possibilities

by Kerri

"She's slow," Bishop watched Charlotte and Betsy in the Danger Room. They were sparring and Charlotte wasn't performing up to her usual deadly standards. Matthew would be ashamed.

Warren watched with him. He liked to see Betsy in action, as long as he wasn't in there with her. The moment she had her hands on the hilt, a wall closed over her face, turning her into someone he didn't know. It was fascinating watching the ninja battle an Immortal-trained fighter. "She's doing fine. She going to whip Charlotte's butt today." Generally the two women were evenly matched.

"I was speaking of Charlotte."

She 'was' slow on the comeback. She barely could defend herself against the rain of blows. Betsy drove her back against the wall, her blade turning into Charlotte's right shoulder, the katana slicing into her flesh, drawing first blood.

Charlotte was breathing hard, actually struggling to take a breath. At the last moment, she turned to the side and fell to her knees, her broadsword skittering away from her hands. Her body spasmed and she vomited on the floor.

Betsy dropped her weapon and reached for her teammate, supporting her forehead, bracing Charlotte against her body. "It's okay," she told her friend.

Charlotte got to her feet unsteadily. "I'm okay," she said, attempting a weak smile. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted, falling head first into Psylocke's arms.

Bishop took a moment to activate the cleaning robots before he followed Warren out of the control room and into the chamber below.

Warren pulled her away from Betsy and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her to the med lab.

Charlotte was already regaining consciousness by the time he laid her on an exam table. "I'm all right," she protested. "I just got a little dizzy for a moment."

Betsy put out a call for Hank while Warren got a cold wet cloth and wiped her face. She was sweating, yet her skin was clammy and chilled. He pressed her back down when she tried to sit up. Bishop stood on the other side, looking at her critically.

"Just stay there," he told her. "Beast will be here in a moment and we'll find out what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Charlotte insisted. "Must have been something I ate."

"Everyone else is feeling okay," Betsy gave her a cool smile. "It's just not your day to win."

"Probably the flu or something," Warren added. "You were at the Snow Valley school last weekend, maybe one of the kids had a cold."

"Maybe. I will be kicking some ninja butt soon, Betsy," Charlotte assured her, closing her eyes.

"I know you will try," Betsy answered.

Hank arrived, having been in the hanger working on the Blackbird when the call came in, and shooed the men out. He asked Betsy to stay and help in the event he needed another psi to assist with Charlotte. To be on the safe side, he asked Jean to come to the lab for back-up.

He left the lab 30 minutes later, a perplexed look on his face. Logan waited for him in the nearby war room, impatiently releasing and retracting his claws. Xavier and Scott were with him, both ostensibly discussing team business, but in reality waiting for news themselves.

"Well," Logan demanded when Hank didn't speak up immediately.

"She is in perfect health as always, just the same as she was last month for her regular physical."

"So, she's just sick or somethin'?"

"No, not physically ill." Hank sat down. "Elizabeth is helping her dress. She's still unsteady on her feet."

"Beast, if she's not sick, what wrong?" Xavier asked. The Legacy virus was upper most in his mind.

"I ran the tests three times to make sure, but it is certain. She is pregnant."

The three X-men were frozen with shock. "Say that again," Logan demanded.

"Pregnant, with child, expecting, in the family way-," Hank rattled off to empty air. Logan had already dashed off.

The women looked up as he barged in. Charlotte was laying back against the raised head of the exam table, a bemused expression on her face.

He rushed to her side. "Are ya okay, really?"

Charlotte smiled at him, lifting a hand to his face. "Yeah, I'm really okay."

He returned her smile, pulling her close in a tight bear hug.

Jean and Betsy slipped out and closed the door behind them.

"Well, he seems to like the idea," Jean told the men in the war room. "Maybe we should have more babies around the mansion." She pointedly looked at her husband, who turned red and ignored her.

Xavier looked at Beast, not paying attention to the by-play between Scott and Jean. "There's more to this, isn't there," he asked.

Hank nodded. "I examined her 3 weeks ago. She wasn't pregnant then, that being one of the standard tests I give the ladies. Today, she's six weeks pregnant."

"How can that happen?" Xavier questioned.

"On the information available to me at this time, I would say that the alien genes have increased the rate the fetus develops. She is uncertain as to when conception occurred, so I am unable to accurately chart the expected date but I feel that at this rate of development she will be ready for delivery within 12 weeks. I neglected to inquire about her first pregnancy, that may have given me the needed data to anticipate this situation." He rubbed his chin with one hand. "With the increased stress on her metabolism to keep up, I cannot anticipate the effects this will have on her or those around her." A telepath under increased physical and emotional stress, especially one as strong as Charlotte, could wreck havoc on anything and anyone within range. Oh my stars.

"Well, now, here's the proud papa," Rogue hugged Logan when he returned from carrying Charlotte upstairs to bed. While he wasn't exactly smiling, he had a twinkle in his eyes. He returned her hug.

"Yes, congratulations," Storm embraced him briefly. "Did you leave her upstairs alone?"

"Thank ya, ladies." He fairly glowed with the satisfaction of a job well done. "She's sleepin'."

Xavier glided into the war room and looked at all his X-men assembled. Logan and Charlotte expecting a baby was going to affect the entire team, and he wanted to give them as much information as possible.

Hank had already explained to the parents-to-be about the effects of Charlotte's unusual blood chemistry and metabolism on the baby, that they would be parents within the next 3 months. She was definitely going to have to make some changes in her routine to accommodate the newest addition to the team.

"Thank you all for being here," Xavier started out. "As you all know by now, Charlotte is pregnant. I've asked you here to let you know about the possible effects this will have on the team." He nodded to Hank.

"First off, let me reassure everyone Charlotte is in excellent health and the infant is good condition." Hank told the team. "Because the infant is progressing at an accelerated rate, she will be undergoing some extreme changes in the next few months. We are unsure how this will affect her mental control, so I recommend she not be left alone at for any length of time. If possible, a psi should be with her. She will not be available for missions or assignments. She may possibly be able to assist with Cerebro, but that's uncertain and entirely up to how she feels."

"So, Henri, is it boy or girl," Remy piped up. "Ow, chere!"

Rogue gave him a warning look. "That's none of our business," she told him.

"The proud parents want to keep that information to themselves," Hank said. That and the fact the 'infant' was actually two infants. All eyes rested on Logan, a few deciding how to go about getting the information from him. Remy began making plans to bribe the Canadian.

"I wonder if it would be safe for her to be at the mansion," Scott said. "As many times as we've had to rebuild the last few years, wouldn't one of her own homes be safer?"

"No!" Bishop said fiercely, then looked as surprised as the rest at his outburst.

"What he means," Jean tried to smooth over the tense moment, "is that Charlotte would be better cared for here with Hank and rest of us to help. If she goes, then Logan will naturally go with her. That weakens the team unnecessarily."

"We'll all do what we can ta help, sugah," Rogue told him.

"I know. Thank ya." Fatherhood. He needed a drink.

Xavier asked Jean and Bishop to come to his study after the team meeting. Scott went with his wife, telling himself as team leader he needed all the information he could get. He'd never admit he was curious.

Jean took a seat near the Professor while Bishop stood in his usual spot.

"I believe the two of you know more about this situation than you're letting on," he began. "I would appreciate both of you telling me your concerns about Charlotte."

Jean looked at Bishop inquiringly. He nodded.

"We know Charlotte is one of the elders that sent Bishop back here to protect the X-men," Jean said. "One of the few memories Bishop has been able to retain concerns Charlotte's and Logan's son."

Xavier said nothing.

"Hammer is, was the one that recruited me into the XSE," Bishop said. "He chose me from all of the other ones at the sanctuary where she and others ran an orphanage of sorts for mutant children."

"An orphanage?" Scott asked. Unpleasant memories washed over him.

"The adult mutants were taken, some disappeared, some killed. Parents were terrified their children would show mutant tendencies. Charlotte and others managed to find some of the children and take them to the mountains to hide. We were trained and conditioned for the rebellion, along with the other children, some of whom were descended from the X-men. Charlotte took me and my sister in, raised us like her own. I owe her my life."

'That explains a lot,' Scott thought to himself.

"He told me his mother was kidnapped from the hospital right after his birth. She was taken by Sinister at a time she was weak and unable to use her powers. But things are different now."

His audience was quiet, giving him their whole-hearted attention.

"The women were to be at the compound with the children, the only safe place they had after the traitor showed himself. The traitor has not been discovered and there are no other children here."

"That's why you don't want her away from the team at this time?" Xavier asked.

"She was taken to a hospital because Beast was not available and the birth started early. Sinister wanted the child, wanted all the children, and he tried to take this one. When he could not get the baby, he took the mother." He didn't know what had happened to her at Essex's hands, didn't want to know.

"So," Jean said, trying to put a positive spin on the situation, "events are not happening according to Bishop's recollections. This could be a good thing, proof that we are changing our future. We keep Charlotte close and protected, we keep the team strong. After the baby's born and if she feels the need to leave, she'll be at full power and can protect herself and her child." Her hands tightened over her abdomen, a gesture the men didn't notice.

Xavier mulled over this in his head. "We truly cannot leave her alone now."

Several days later found Charlotte in the gym, struggling to do her normal routine. The exhaustion she felt seeped through her entire being, but she wasn't giving up. She never felt this bad when she carried Thomas. 200 years between pregnancies might have something to do with it. Old age must have crept up on her behind her back.

Logan was out with Scott and Bishop and she'd snuck downstairs to try and keep to her usual schedule. She hadn't had any privacy since Hank shared her condition with the whole team.

She dropped the weight, jerking her foot out of the way just in time, and felt like crying. A few angry tears escaped. Not again.

"Chere, what you doin'," Remy scolded her. He stood in the doorway, wearing an old shirt and shorts, coming in for his own workout. "You shouldn' be here, not good for you."

That did it. She burst out crying, great hot tears running down her face. He sighed and lifted her up, settling her on his lap, her head on his shoulder. "I can't get the weight on the bar," she sobbed. She could have gotten mad at Logan if he chewed her out like this, but with Remy all she could do is cry.

"Chere, dat's not 'portant. You ask for help, Gambit help you."

"I can do it myself," she sniffled.

"'Kay." He humored her, the only thing he knew to do with a pregnant woman, especially a pregnant telepath that had scant control of herself. She was more moody than all the X-women combined suffering from pms. Didn't think that chocolate would help for this, though. If it would, he'd buy out the entire candy store to get her to smile again.

She continued to cry, wearing herself out. Finally she lay against him, sniffling, the exhaustion making her eyes droop. "Why am I always crying on you?" she asked.

"Doan know, chere. Doan mind, tho', you cry on me anytime you want, I cry on you som'times." Remy looked down to find her eyes closed. He lifted her easily and carried her out of the gym and to the elevator.

"What are you doing?" Bobby asked him when the elevator stopped at the main floor.

"Takin' Charlotte up to her room. She's tired," Remy told him with an irritated look. "What it look like I'm doin', homme?"

"Carrying her upstairs." Bobby had a gift for stating the obvious. He moved to get on the elevator, but Remy stopped him.

"She doan need your nonsense now," he punched the button with his elbow.

He pushed her bedroom door open and laid her gently on the bed, then found a blanket folded over a chair and spread that over her.

Her eyes didn't open. "Merci," she said whispered.

He smiled, leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Rest, chere."

"What happened?" Logan demanded, finding Remy in the gym. Bobby had stopped him outside when he returned to tell him Remy had carried Charlotte up to their room.

"Not'ing, homme. She just try an' do too much." Remy looked up at an irate Wolverine leaning over the bar above him. "I just take her back to bed. She's okay."

Logan sat down on the opposite bench, letting out an aggrieved sigh. "She's drivin' me crazy. Won' understand she can't do everythin' she did before. Gonna have to chain her down."

"Maybe she need somet'ing to do."

"I agree." Hank joined the conversation. "I intended to talk to you before this, Logan, about designing a training program for her."

"Trainin'? Ya told me she needs to take it easy." This was making his head hurt. If he thought he could get away with it he'd head for the hills till this was over. Deep down inside he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away.

"Physically, yes, but we must also treat her emotionally. She feels useless if she is unable to contribute, so we'll give her something to do. I've discussed this with Moira. A light weight-lifting program, strictly supervised. Aerobics in the pool. Regular shifts on monitor duty. Infrequent trips to the Massachusetts school for history lectures. And, of course, shopping with the ladies. This will only last 3 months. We can do this." In fact, now that he considered it, time at the academy would be ideal. She always enjoyed herself there and there were telepaths available, along with young Leech, if she was unable to control herself.

"Makes sense. She always needs somethin' to do," Logan said. "I can do the weight liftin' an' physical trainin'." Might be fun. A chance to get more creative. She liked creative solutions.

"The ladies will help us," Hank told him, "You'll have all of our resources at your disposal."

"Maybe just a hole to hide in till it's over."

"You t'ink you could hide anywhere she couldn' find you?" Remy asked with a smirk. He laughed at the expression that crossed Logan's face. It made the Cajun wonder if a wife and children were things he'd might want for himself. Worth a thought or two.

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