AN: First thanks to Darcenary for you review! And thanks to everyone that favorited, alerted, and read my story. You guys really made my day :) Well here's Chapter 2. I hope you all like it. Not real sure where this story is going to go but I like drama and angst. Chapter 3 should be up soon. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. They inspire me to write faster!


Chapter 2: Discoveries

That next morning Alex was digging through the fridge trying not to think about the night before. Anytime he did think about the talk he would feel his face heat up and he had no idea why. It wasn't like the talk he had with Hank was embarrassing or anything like that. He didn't know how to explain it. He then remembered how it felt to run his fingers through the other boy's fur and he felt his face heat up even more.

"Watcha' doin'?" someone asked. Alex was so startled that he ended up banging his head on the shelf in the fridge.

"Damn it Sean," Alex said as he grabbed out some eggs and a hunk of cheese. He didn't know how someone who could shatter glass with their scream could walk so quietly.

"Sorry," Sean said looking anything but. Alex glared at him.

"And what do you think I'm doing?" Alex asked as he grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard so he could crack the eggs. He thought that cheese omelets sounded good; not like he had much of a choice. They were nearly out of food.

"My guess would be making breakfast," Sean said looking sheepish.

"You're swift," Alex said as he rolled his eyes. "Why don't you grab the grater and help."

"So where's Hank?" Sean asked as he began to dig through the cupboards.

"Hopefully still sleeping," Alex said as his mind drifted back to the previous night. He managed to wake Hank up for dinner but the other boy had a hard time keeping his eyes open during the meal. Alex walked Hank back to his room after they had finished eating. He was worried that Hank would fall asleep on the way if he didn't.

"You sure he's not in his lab?" Sean asked as he finally began to grate the cheese.

"I checked before coming down here. You know we're nearly out of…"

"You checked?" Sean asked once again sounding smug. Alex looked up and saw that Sean was smirking.

"Yeah so," Alex said as he added some salt and pepper to his eggs.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just a bit out of the way isn't. I mean the lab is on the opposite side of the mansion," Sean said with a casual shrug.

"Again so," Alex said wondering where Sean was going with this.

"You really don't know, do you," Sean said his smirk now gone.

"Alex doesn't know what?" Hank said as he walked into the kitchen. He still looked a bit off but not as bad as he did yesterday.

"The obvious," Sean said looking disappointed.

"Huh," Hank said looking confused.

"Ignore him. Sean never knows what he's talking about," Alex told him.

"True," Hank quickly agreed.

"Hey!" Sean said with a pout and Hank hid a laugh behind his hand. Alex smiled to himself. He couldn't remember the last time he heard Hank laugh. It was a nice sound.

"We're just teasing," Hank reassured him.

"Sure pick on the little guy," Sean said with a smile as if to tell them he wasn't upset.

"You hungry?" Alex asked as he looked over at Hank.

"Starving," Hank said and Alex swore that he saw the other boy's mouth water.

"I'm afraid that it's nothing fancy. Just cheese omelets," Alex said.

"And toast," Sean said with a big smile. "I found the last loaf of bread in the pantry."

"The pantry is nearly empty too?" Alex asked with a frown. He knew that the fridge was almost empty but he thought that they at least would have dry goods.

"Actually we're out of or nearly out of everything," Hank said his earlier smile now gone. "I think that you two are going to have to go to town."

"But…" Alex started to argue. He heard Sean grumble under his breath as he grabbed the bowl of eggs and headed over towards the stove. Alex was glad that Sean was taking over cooking duties. Now that he didn't have to worry about the food he could focus all of his attention on the conversation that he was having with Hank.

"No buts Alex. There are things that we need and if we don't do the shopping and take care of them they won't get done you know that. Besides we talked about this last night," Hank finished with a sigh.

"Who used to do it?" Sean asked breaking into their conversation. Alex looked over his shoulder at him and saw that he had one omelet done and was working on the second.

"Erik. He took care of most of the household chores. Cooking, cleaning, the shopping. He was actually very domestic," Hank explained.

"Of course he would have to been the domestic one," Sean said as he flipped the eggs over and added a rather large handful of the freshly grated cheese.

"And the professor is the brooding one," Alex said with a roll of his eyes. "Which is why I don't like the idea of leaving you here alone. What if he projects again?"

All of them went quiet at the memory. The first night that all four of them spent in the mansion after the incident on the beach the Professor must have had a nightmare or something. For a brief moment all three of them felt what he felt. Total despair. Alex wanted to believe that was one reasons that they rarely saw the man. That he was trying to protect them from himself but he was beginning to have his doubts.

"That only happened once," Hank argued. Alex glared at him, "but I promise if I sense anything like that I'll leave the mansion. Go for a run or something."

"Come on Alex. Hank's a big boy. He can take care of himself," Sean said sticking in his two-cents worth.

"Alright fine," Alex agreed knowing he had lost the argument when Sean had sided with Hank.

"Well breakfast is done," Sean said. "Do you want to write out the list while we eat?"

"Might as well. Like I said there's a lot we need besides food," Hank said as he picked up his plate and headed towards the table.

"You can write the list. Your hand writing is more legible than mine," Alex said as he grabbed his plate and Sean's then followed Hank. Sean joined them a few moments later with a pad and pencil.

"Alright let's start with the groceries," Sean said.

It took the boys well past breakfast just to make the list of groceries. Then they started on the everyday items. This took even longer especially since Hank needed so many things for his lab. Some of the items that he asked for Alex had never heard of. To make matters even worse they would almost finish the list when someone would think of something else that was needed.

"This is going to take us the rest of the day," Alex said as he looked over the list. He already didn't like the idea of leaving Hank there alone with the Professor when he thought that they would only be gone for a couple of hours but now when he knew that they were going to be gone a good part of the day. They had to go to at least five different stores.

"How are we even going to pay for all of this?" Sean asked with a shake of his head.

"We could always get the money from the Professor's safe that's hidden in his office," Hank suggested.

"I'd never thought that you would suggest stealing," Alex said as he laughed.

"Well it's not really stealing…I mean we do need it and all," Hank stuttered and even with all that fur Alex swore he saw him blush.

"Now all we have to do is break into a safe," Sean said looking despondent.

"I've done it before. I can do it again," Alex said with a shrug.

"Actually we don't need to break in. I saw Erik go in there once and I remember the combination," Hank said.

"You remember the combination?" Sean asked looking surprised.

"Why wouldn't he. Hank is a genius," Alex said as he got up from the table. Hank practically beamed at the compliment and Alex felt his face heat up. "Come on let's go."

The three of them made their way across the mansion to the Professor's office. They knocked just in case the man happened to be in. They weren't surprised when they didn't hear an answer. Alex shook his head as he opened the door and they all walked inside.

"So where is this safe?" Alex said as he looked around the extravagant room.

"Don't tell me that it's behind the portrait," Sean said with a small grimace. Hank shrugged as he walked over to the portrait behind the desk and took it down. "That is so cliché."

"It is an old house," Hank said as he spun the dial. After a few turns the door made a rather loud click and it popped open. Hank then reached in inside and pulled out a stack of money. "This should cover it."

Alex took the money from him and couldn't believe how much he was holding. He had never seen this much money it his life and he never thought he would.

"Alex are you alright?" Hank asked sounding concerned.

"I'm fine," Alex said as he stuffed the money deep into his pocket not even wanting to think how much he actually had. "Should we go figure out the car now?"

"The garage is on the other side of the mansion," Sean whined. "Why would one family need such a big house?"

"Rich people are eccentric," Alex said with a shake of his head. The other two nodded their agreement. The trio quickly walked back to the other side of the mansion and then outside to where the garage was.

"Well I guess the Professor doesn't know what we're up to or he would have tried to stop us by now," Alex said as he opened one of the garage doors. The garage, much like the mansion, was extravagant. It held at least ten cars.

"He's probably shielding himself so he doesn't project again. Nothing is going out which means nothing can go in," Hank said.

"Makes it easier for us then," Alex said with a smile as he looked down at the fancy sports car. He figured that he could enjoy the trip into town if he got to drive a car like this.

"Alex I know how you feel but there's barely room for the two of us in that much less everything that we need to buy," Sean pointed out.

"Fine," Alex grumbled knowing that it was true, "but when we get back I say that all of us should go for a joyride in this."

"You should probably take that car," Hank said as he pointed to the least expensive car in the garage. "That way you won't draw so much attention to yourselves."

"Right," Alex said as he grabbed the keys from the rack that hung on the wall.

"So what are you going to do today?" Sean asked as he looked over at Hank.

"Probably just work in my lab," Hank said with a shrug.

"No. You are going to take it easy today," Alex said. "No lab."

"But," Hank said as he looked towards Sean who shrugged.

"I gave in and let you stay here alone but this I am not going to give in on," Alex said. "You spend too much time in that lab of yours. Read a book, watch TV, or something. You need a break," Alex told him.

"Oh, alright then," Hank said sounding surprised but also pleased.

"I knew I could talk sense into you," Alex said and before he could stop himself he ruffled Hank's fur. "We should be back before it gets dark."

"Sure thing," Hank said with a smile. "I'll be here."

Alex returned the smile as he got in the driver's side of the car. Sean got in the passenger's side without a word of complaint. As they drove away Alex watched Hank in the rear-view mirror. He noticed that the smile had disappeared from his face.

"Okay what was all of that?" Sean asked after they pulled out onto the main road.

"What?" Alex asked.

"That whole thing with Hank," Sean said like it was the most obvious thing.

"You're not making any sense," Alex said wishing that Sean would just say what he meant.

"You just seem a bit overprotective," Sean told him.

"Wasn't it just yesterday that you came to me and said that I needed to talk to him because he was having a hard time and we have and special connection and now you're asking me why," Alex said with a shake of his head.

"That's not it," Sean said with a frustrated sigh. "I just get the feeling that you like Hank."

"Of course I like him or I wouldn't being trying to help him," Alex told him.

"That's not the kind of like I meant. I meant like as in the way the Professor and Erik liked each other," Sean said.

"That's…" Alex said about to deny it but stopped. He had never heard about let alone saw same sex relationships until he met the Professor and Erik. Not that they ever did anything in front of them but it was obvious that they cared deeply for each other.

It was true that he did care about Hank but was it to that extent. He had never really thought about having a relationship before with anyone. He was always afraid that he would lose control of his powers and hurt them or worse. He had better control now but he was still different and couldn't picture having a relationship with someone who wasn't like him.

Alex then started to picture himself with the other mutant teens. Angle was out immediately as she turned on them from the very beginning. Darwin was out next as he hardly ever got to know the guy; another reason he couldn't like Angle. If she hadn't turned on them then Darwin wouldn't have tried to stop her and have been killed. Next he pictured himself with Raven but he had never been terrible fond of her. She clung to Hank too much.

Alex bulked at that thought. He never realized that his annoyance with Raven stemmed from the fact that she spent too much time with Hank. He then tried to picture himself with Sean but that didn't work either. He thought of Sean as a little brother and even more so now. Last he tried to picture himself with Hank; his heart and stomach did funny things.

"Alright hypothetically let's say that I do like Hank. Who's to say that he likes me back?" Alex asked.

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Sean asked. Alex gave the other boy a perplexed look and Sean rolled his eyes. "Like after his change it was your approval he wanted not anyone else's."

"I know," Alex said with a sigh feeling terrible at the memory. He hated the way that Hank looked at him and asked that question. He had to do something to make him feel better and that name he came up with seemed to do the trick but it only made Alex feel worse. That one act of kindness seemed to make Hank happy.

Maybe the feelings he had for Hank weren't real. Not saying that he didn't care about the other boy because he did but maybe they were amplified because of the guilt he felt. If that were the case Alex could really end up hurting him. The last thing he needed was to be in a relationship with Hank then have some mutant girl, that could run through walls or something, show up and then find himself attracted to her.

"So are you saying that you like him?" Sean asked.

"No," Alex said with a small shake of his head.

"Then you don't like him," Sean said for some reason sounding disappointed.

"I'm not saying that either. Look the situation is complicated and the last thing I want to do is hurt Hank more than I already have. I need time to think," Alex said as he felt a headache come on. "Add aspirin to our list."

"Sure thing," Sean said with a chuckle. Alex was very tempted to smack him.

Hank watched them leave the ache in his heart growing the further away they got. He stood there for a few moments even after he could no longer see them. He then looked towards the house and the ache grew worse. It was big, gloomy, and intimidating looking.

Normally he would just head to the lab so he could focus on his work and forget everything else but he had promised Alex that he wouldn't go into his lab. That was something that completely confused him. Hank had no idea why Alex was suddenly so worried about him and why he seemed to truly care.

After the thing at the beach him, Alex, and Sean did get along better than they had before; they had to. Still though this thing with Alex, it was like ever since yesterday something had happened. He had been worried that Alex would be upset with him because he had fallen asleep on him when Alex had been trying to tell him something; he couldn't quite remember what it was. It was the opposite though. Alex seemed content and more relaxed than he had been since the whole thing at the beach.

With a sigh Hank headed back into the house and shuddered. It was deafeningly quite. He could usually hear Alex's energy rays bouncing off the walls as he trained in the basement or Sean's high-pitched screams as he flew over the mansion. It was never overly noisy but just enough to remind Hank that he wasn't alone. Now the only sounds to be heard were the dripping faucet and his footsteps as he walked. As Hank cleaned up their mess from breakfast the quiet became more oppressive.

Needing some form of human contact to remind that he wasn't truly alone Hank decided that he would make the Professor lunch and see if he could get the man to open up. True they didn't have a lot of food but there was enough left to make him a sandwich. He quickly fixed up a try with the sandwich, an apple, and a glass of milk and then headed towards the Professor's room. He had to gather his courage before he was able to knock.

"Yes," he heard a quiet voice say. Taking this as an invitation Hank slowly opened the door and peeked his head in.

"I thought you might be hungry," Hank said. The Professor was sitting in his chair just staring out the window.

"Thank you. You can just set it on the table," the man said without turning around. Hank did what was asked and waited a few moments but the Professor didn't say anything else. He repressed a sigh as he left.

Not having anything else to do Hank headed to the sitting room to watch some TV. Not that there would be anything on but it would nice to hear another voice. He knew that the Professor wouldn't have been overly talkative but he thought that the man would at least ask how they were doing or if they needed anything. It looked as if he was more damaged than they had feared.

He turned on the small TV and turned through the three stations. Surprisingly he found something that looked tolerable. It was some daytime drama but he found it more enjoyable than the game show. With something to watch Hank settled on the couch trying not to think about how alone he was.

He was really missing the other two. Thinking about that though only made Hank feel worse. He had really come to depend on them since everything went down. Hank hoped that it wouldn't take them to long to do the shopping and that they would be back soon. Actually he hoped they came back period. He couldn't see why they would want to. There was nothing here for them. Not that he believed that they would abandon him but a small part wondered.

Not wanting to dwell on his depressing thoughts Hank spent most of the day watching TV. He would have liked to go for a run but he saw dark clouds off in the distance and he could smell the rain in the air. He wasn't overly fond of the idea of being caught out in the storm when it hit. He hoped his friends made it back before it did because he had a feeling that it was going to be a bad one.

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing Hank knew it was dark outside. And not the type of dark from it being late but the type of dark that came from a storm. A very angry storm. Wanting to chase away the gloom and the shadows he flipped on the light by the couch. He noticed that TV was all static. He messed with the antenna for a bit but with no luck.

With a sigh he shut it off and picked up his book. He had only been reading for a few minutes when he heard the rain start pelting against the window followed by a bright flash of lightening and a loud crack of thunder. The lights flickered and went out.

Hank thought of it as more of an annoyance than anything. He was on his way to the kitchen to get a flashlight when it happened. A feeling of intense despair hit him and it nearly knocked him to his knees. It was worse than it was the last time. Doing what he promised Alex he would do if the Professor projected again Hank ran from the mansion and into the storm.