Later that night
"Okay…" Evie said slowly, as Charles finished explaining their situation while they walked Evie home. "So, you're, what recruiting us to fight this mutant... Shaw?"
"Only if you want to." Charles reassured. "We are hoping you would use your gifts for a greater cause, but the choice is completely yours to make."
"I see." Evie murmured, staring down the dark streets.
Erik glanced over, but Charles shook his head at his friend, silently telling the taller man to let Evie mull things over on her own first.
"Can I ask something first?" Evie asked, and Erik pointed out, "You already did."
Evie shot him a look that clearly said 'very mature', and Erik grinned while Charles answered smoothly, "Of course, Miss Johnson; you may ask as many questions as you like."
"Did you do something to Sasha to get that table?" Evie asked, looking at Charles. "She was a bit… odd."
"Yes; I'm afraid I had to tweak her memories and rearrange some of the reservations they had. It's one of my abilities." Charles admitted sheepishly. "None of your other tables were free; you are incredibly popular, Miss Johnson, and therefore difficult to get a table for."
"Yes, well," Evie shrugged as she pulled her coat on tighter around herself, "all those customers are under the impression that I'm easy. They're that kind of men, and they don't mind paying the extra in tips if they can book a table with me as their server. Especially on a Friday night."
Erik raised his brow again and he examined her as though he found her quite intriguing. But Charles was the more verbose, and the slighter man inquired curiously, "Why do you do what you do - if you don't mind me asking."
"Can't you just read my mind?" Evie challenged with a glance his way.
But Charles just smiled slightly as he answered, "It would be rather rude of me to pry into your mind that far – I only looked for what was important so as not to scare you away earlier."
'As though you could scare me.'
That was what Evie really wanted to say – however, she knew Charles knew the truth. He had to have read it in her mind when she had reacted to him calling her 'Miss Johnson' the first time.
So instead, she answered his question as she explained with a shrug, "You try living on regular tips alone; it's not enough to pay the bills let alone for food on top of bills. At least with the extra cash those customers give me, I can pay my rent and keep myself from starving."
"You're lucky, you know." Erik suddenly observed, making Evie glance at him with a raised brow.
"How so?" She asked, and he pointed out calmly, "Most other women would have to actually go through with the things you make your customers think you're letting them do."
Evie gave him a measured look, before she shrugged as she acknowledged, "I suppose so. Though I think it's about the only perk to my 'abilities', so to speak; which leads me to question whether I really am lucky or not."
"You don't believe your powers are a gift."
It wasn't a question, but Evie nodded anyway.
"Is that why you trick everyone who sees you into thinking you have blue eyes?" Erik asked flatly, and she shot him a look. "Because you want to hide what you are?"
He gestured to what he saw to be her 'blue' eyes (now that Charles wasn't helping him see through Evie's illusion), and Evie averted her gaze as she answered evasively, "… Partly."
Charles was observing her, and Evie knew he probably knew exactly what she was thinking about.
But Evie was grateful when Charles didn't say anything, while Erik pressed, "Why? Why must you feel compelled to think you have to fit in?"
Evie shrugged as she answered shortly, "Well, I didn't used to know why I was different. And I never met anyone like me - so I thought I was cursed. And who wants that to be advertised?"
"No, you see," Charles interrupted before Erik could say anything that would likely be scathing and most certainly not helpful. "You think that way because you have yet to learn to fully control your own power. You have an incredible gift."
By now they'd stopped walking; and Evie stood staring at the two men as they faced her in the chilly night street, both looking confident and assured.
"And when you tap into the full range of your powers, I have no doubt you will be capable of doing the most wonderful things. Things that will change lives for the better." Charles finished, smiling kindly at Evie once more.
"Wonderful?" Evie repeated with a snort. "I can – at best - make people see what I want them to see; how, exactly, is that 'changing lives'?"
"Because that's not all you can do, is it?" Charles answered calmly, his blue eyes clear as they pierced Evie's.
She turned her head away, giving him all the answer he needed.
"You maintain your power is only to create visions." Charles said gently, making Evie turn back to face him. "But I think you know that what you're really capable of doing is so much more."
Erik didn't look surprised by what Charles was saying, which told Evie that Charles had probably already run through his whole theory with the metal-bender. Evie pursed her lips, looking down with a slight frown on her face.
But she looked up again when Charles said softly, "You're only afraid of your powers because you cannot control them yet. So, why not let me help you?"
She looked between the two men, her gaze thoughtful, and they could see she was wavering.
"You said I could control my powers," Evie began slowly, "and you think I can make a change for the better with them. That they aren't just the curse I thought them to be."
"Yes." Charles answered, and Evie looked right at him and Erik as she asked seriously, "Do you really believe that?"
"With all my heart." Charles replied without missing a beat.
Erik, too, nodded firmly and Evie knew in her heart that they meant it.
Evie stared at the pair, before she finally said, "I'm in."
Erik cocked an eyebrow, that small smile still on his face, while Charles beamed.
"In that case, I look forward to working with you, Evelyn Johnson." Charles said as he shook Evie's hand.
She raised a brow at him, wondering at his use of her full name and Charles just smiled kindly as he replied in her mind, "You don't have to hide any more."
Evie stared at him for a long moment before she glanced at Erik. And he raised a brow as he watched her blink once before her violet eyes, now visible to him (and the world), shone back at him with excitement and apprehension.
"Welcome to the club." Erik joked, and Evie smiled back widely.
Somehow… she had a good feeling about how her future was starting to look now. That was a first for her… and hopefully, she would be right about it.
The next day
"Uh huh…" Evie muttered as she looked around at the enormous compound.
"More than you expected?" The beautiful agent who'd met up with them at the car – Moira MacTaggert as she'd introduced herself – asked, and Evie shook her head.
"Kind of." She answered as she walked with Moira, behind Charles and Erik. "But, that's not what I meant."
"Then what is it?" Moira asked curiously, and Evie looked at her.
"Why do secret services like the CIA insist on building huge complexes that can be seen from miles away even if it's in the middle of nowhere, Virginia?" Evie asked.
Erik coughed – hiding a laugh – while Moira raised a brow as Evie continued with a straight face, "I mean, sure, it's a labyrinth inside… but it's not like a terrorist needs to get around inside the place to bomb it."
Charles chuckled as he looked over his shoulder, saying lightly in response to her joke, "They have their own defenses, and I can assure you that you'll be safe here."
"And don't worry, Evie." Erik added with a smirk as he too glanced over his shoulder at the blonde young woman. "If anyone did try to bomb us, I could stop it before it hurt you. So there's no need to be afraid."
His tone was sarcastically sweet, intentionally sounding like a parent cooing soothingly to a frightened child; and Evie returned in an equally sarcastic, dramatic tone, "My hero. Where have you been all of my life when I needed a can opener?"
Erik barked a laugh while Moira shook her head at them, but Charles interrupted as they reached the end of the hallway, "Ah, here we are."
Charles stopped them before the set of doors, saying as he turned to Evie, "Right, Evie; time for you to meet the others."
Evie nodded, suddenly starting to feel a little nervous. It felt as though she were about to be introduced to a new class or something along those lines - and the last time she had been in a similar situation, it had not been a happy memory.
Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to push those thoughts away and stay calm as Charles opened the door.
"Everyone." Charles called as he led the way inside, Erik nodding for Evie to go on in after the professor and unspoken leader. "Let me introduce you to our newest recruit – Evelyn Johnson."
Evie smiled awkwardly from her place in the doorway as she abruptly found herself the centre of attention of seven pairs of curious eyes.
They were in a recreational room of some kind, which looked out a window towards the main courtyard, with several games and decorative aquariums lining the walls of the large space. A small kitchen with a bar and fridge was in the front corner, while the majority of the space in the center of the room was a comfortable sitting area with two sofas and a few armchairs around a small white coffee table.
But it was the people Evie was both more interested and slightly intimidated by.
She was excited to see that the group appeared to be of mostly the same age bracket as herself, ranging from early to mid twenties. The two exceptions were the black-haired girl on the far side of the room who looked about sixteen, and the dark-skinned man sitting on the opposite end of the couch from the teenage girl, and who looked to be closer to Charles and Erik's ages of around thirty. To find so many other mutants, and mutants her age was mind-boggling after living for twenty-two years thinking she was alone.
However, it was also terrifying because Evie hadn't been around people her age - unless one counted customers - for a long time. And the last time hadn't been pleasant… to put it mildly.
As Evie remained uncertainly in the doorway, a pretty young woman with golden blonde hair in soft curls got up from one of the sofas.
"Nice to meet you, Evelyn." She greeted with a warm smile as she came over, holding out her hand for a handshake. "I'm Raven, Charles's adoptive sister."
"It's Evie." Evie answered, starting to feel a little more comfortable as Raven welcomed her kindly. "And it's nice to meet you too, Raven."
"Raven, would you help Evelyn settle in?" Charles requested and Raven nodded.
Taking Evie's hand, Raven pulled her enthusiastically to join the others on the sofas while Charles added to the group at large, "Everyone, get to know each other and don't hesitate to call if you need me or Erik. We'll be back later."
With that, Charles left – Erik and Moira going with him – and Raven turned to beam at Evelyn.
"You're the last one." Raven informed the other, lighter-haired blonde as she settled them both on the sofa. "At least, for now, you are."
She then gestured at the dark-haired young man sitting on her other side as she introduced, "Evie, this is Hank."
"Hi." Hank - a handsome if shy and awkward young man with thick-glasses – greeted, and Evie smiled a little shyly as she replied, "Hi."
"I'm Angel." A short, pretty young woman added from where she sat across from Evie, and the dark-skinned man sitting beside Angel added, "And I'm Darwin."
"Hi." Evie nodded, when the ginger-haired young man sitting in the armchair on the other side piped up, "And I'm Sean, but you can call me Big Sean if you want, beautiful."
"Uh…" Evie answered, raising a slight brow, and Raven explained dismissively, "Don't mind him, Evie; Sean apparently flirts with anything with boobs"
"I see." Evie commented, while Sean winked and Raven added with teasing severity, "Even if he interrupts introductions to do so."
Sean had the grace to look a little sheepish while the black-haired teen sitting between him and Hank greeted Evie, "I'm Lisa."
"Nice to meet you, Lisa." Evie greeted, and Lisa answered with a grin, "Likewise, Evie."
Smiling back, Evie then turned to glance at the last person in the room, a young man with short blond hair and a somewhat bad-boy aura. Or, at least, an attempt at one – he seemed more like a sulky teenager in Evie's opinion. Ironic, given the fact that the actual teenager (because she really didn't think Lisa could be much older than eighteen at most) seemed rather chipper even if her clothes were dark and slightly gothic.
"The moody one's Alex." Raven informed her, and Evie nodded while Alex just rolled his eyes. "And, that's everyone."
"Pleasure to meet you all." Evie said to the group in general, and there were nods back.
It was clear that they weren't quite sure what to do next, and Raven bounced beside Evie in a mixture of nervousness and eagerness that reminded Evie of a labrador puppy.
"So." Darwin spoke up just as they were all about to fall back into an awkwardly long silence. "What do you guys think we should do?"
"We should think of code names." Raven answered instantly, brightening up as she looked around at them excitedly. "We're government agents now, we should have secret code names."
Evie had to laugh at the girl's enthusiasm while Raven announced, "I want to be called 'Mystique'."
"Damn!" Sean groaned good-naturedly. "I wanted to be called 'Mystique'."
They all laughed a little, while Raven countered, "Well, tough. I called it."
Evie blinked, startled, when Raven suddenly changed, her skin fluttering as she went from blonde beauty to an exact copy of Sean – right down to his clothes and freckles.
"And I'm way more mysterious than you." Raven added, even her voice an exact copy of Sean's.
The group had jumped at Raven's sudden change, but they now started to laugh and clap in appreciation – even Sean – while Raven changed back to her usual blonde persona. The young woman smiled bashfully, before turning to ask, "Darwin, what about you?"
"Well," Darwin shrugged, easily accepting the baton Raven offered. "'Darwin' is already a nickname, and, you know, it sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all."
Evie cocked her head, wondering what he meant, and it was clear she wasn't the only one.
They were all interested to see what each of the others could do, so it was under very close attention that Darwin stood up, saying, "Check this out."
He walked over to one of the fishbowls on the edge of the room, and they all watched with bated breath as he dipped his head inside the water. And all of their eyes widened and Sean let out a hoot while Raven clapped as they saw gills appearing on Darwin's face, just along his jaw and before his ears.
"Whoa!" Alex added appreciatively, while the others joined Raven in laughing and clapping at Darwin's mutation, and the man lifted his head back out of the water with a proud shake.
"That was incredible." Hank told him, and Darwin smiled as he shook off the water on his face, saying dramatically in response to their applause, "Thank you. Thank you."
He then pointed at Sean as he returned to his seat, asking, "What about you?"
"I'm going to be…" Sean answered thoughtfully, before he smirked. "'Banshee'."
"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked, puzzled, and Sean answered as he got up, "You might want to cover your ears."
The others exchanged puzzled looks but did as Sean said, placing their hands over their ears as Sean stood at one end of the coffee table, looking down at the glass tumblers sitting along the table edges.
Evie watched in fascination as Sean inhaled deeply, holding his breath before he let out a sharp whistle of some kind. Clearly, he'd been intending to hit the tumblers – unfortunately, his high-pitched shriek hit the windows behind the group, and they all turned to stare in shocked awe as the thick glass shattered into pieces.
Raven gasped before she started to laugh again, as Evie and Darwin clapped, the others joining in as they turned back to Sean, impressed.
"Wow!" Lisa said enthusiastically, and the ginger bowed, grinning widely, before he gestured at her.
"What about you?" He asked, settling back down in his seat. "How about, 'Miss Beautiful'?"
Raven groaned while Evie laughed at the face Lisa made, but the good-natured moment was ruined when Alex snorted, "Maybe you mean, 'Miss Minor'. How old are you, twelve?"
Evie frowned and Raven scowled, while Lisa's dark brown eyes narrowed on the blond male.
"For your information, I'm eighteen." She answered, and Evie had to admit she was a little surprised. The girl looked truthfully younger, possibly also because she didn't seem to be wearing any makeup; not that Evie was going to say so aloud in the current situation.
"And I'd rather look younger, than act like I stopped maturing mentally at age six."
Alex glared at Lisa while the older girls in the group snorted in approval, but Darwin quickly intervened.
"All right, all right, let's not fight already." He gave Alex a pointed look before smiling at Lisa. "So, Lisa - go on. Show us what you can do."
Lisa's lips curved up into a smirk and she began slowly, "We-ll..."
Evie blinked as the girl suddenly disappeared, vanishing right before their eyes.
The others also started, when a startled yell had them looking toward Alex in surprise.
The blond young man was scowling while Lisa stood smirking just behind him… with Alex's drink in her hand. Except, it wasn't her hand - it was her shadow.
"You control shadows?" Raven exclaimed in amazed delight, and Lisa nodded.
"Yup." She answered, her smile turning bashful as the group clapped and Sean whistled. "I can also travel through them - pretty handy way to disappear, though I don't think I can take anyone else with me-"
"That's amazing!" Raven interjected as she cheered. "Your codename has to be 'Shadow' - you just have to be called Shadow!"
"I agree." Evie nodded, and Lisa's smile widened as she nodded her assent while she returned to her seat.
"Your turn." She gestured at Angel as she went, and all eyes turned on the petite brunette next.
"My, uh… stage name," Angel began a little bashfully but with a cheeky smile, "is Angel."
The former stripper boldly took off her black leather jacket, leaving her in only her short black dress.
Sean let out an appreciative whistle, making Evie, Lisa, and Raven roll their eyes, while Angel turned around to show them her bared back and the strange tattoo marks that ran from her shoulders down her spine.
"It kind of fits." Angel finished, and their eyes widened as the 'tattoo marks' on Angel's back peeled away and stretched out, revealing them to actually be wings.
"You can fly?" Raven demanded in awe, while Evie ran her eyes over Angel's beautiful purple-indigo wings.
They were semi-transparent, like dragonfly wings, but shaped like a fairy's; and Evie had to agree her 'stage name' really suited her.
Angel smiled as she turned back to them, fluttering her wings as she said, "Uh huh. And, um…"
She turned so that she was facing the broken window, sucking a little on her saliva.
And Evie's eyes widened in amazement as Angel spat what looked like a small fireball all the way out the window and hitting the head of the statue standing in the centre of the courtyard, where the fire flared and sizzled into acid.
They all laughed and clapped again, Raven and Sean finding the smoking statue particularly hilarious, and Angel turned to the other blonde girl in the room.
"What about you, Evie?" She asked as she pulled her jacket back on. "What's your power?"
"Well…" Evie began, and the others turned to her expectantly. "Like everyone else, it's probably easiest just to show you."
