I want to say thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorited or alerted this story. You have seriously made me more happy than words can express. So here is chapter 2 three days earlier than planned:]

Chapter 2

"We're going back tomorrow." Erik said to Charles as they walked down the cobblestone street to their hotel. "She wants to see us together." Charles adjusted his umbrella in his hand and looked sideways at his friend.

"And you think you can convince her to come with us?" Charles had picked the memory of the encounter with the British mutant out of Erik's head, after Erik had insisted on it of course. He doubted Charles would have believed him if he hadn't seen it for himself.

"No, I don't." Erik walked straight through a puddle, his eyes focused somewhere on the horizon. "But you can."

Later that evening Charles sat at the hotel bar, nursing a whiskey. His thoughts strayed to the humans around him. He let his mental shields down and felt the influx of others thoughts in his mind.

I think I've had one too many.

I hope don't look fat in this dress.

Maybe he'll come over and get me a drink.

I wonder how the children are; it's probably too late to phone them. I'll ring them in the morning.

He sighed and drained his glass. He wondered about Raven and how she was doing at the moment. He thought about calling her but decided against it. It was becoming increasingly hard to make himself not read her mind, it was if she was folding in on herself. Charles didn't like it at all. She was usually so open with him, so willing to share her thoughts and feelings. It was part of what he loved about her, they had a connection on such a level that he did not have to resort to using his telepathy. Erik, on the other hand, was an enigma. He shielded himself off from everyone, he was sure it had been a very long time since Erik had cared about anybody.

Charles was curious about the mutant girl as well. He wanted to know why she was with the government, for how long she had been with them. He would bet a very long time. I am a ghost. Oh, most certainly a very long time. She looked young too, maybe 18 or 19. He wondered where her parents were, if they knew where she was. He wondered what sort of parents would give their child to the government. He amended his thoughts quickly, how would a normal human family feel if they had a child who could read minds. He had been lucky; he had learned to control his powers at an early age, but what if she couldn't. What if her parents were always frightened around her, always careful of what they were thinking. If they thought she was dangerous it would have made sense to hand her over to the government.

Charles put a few bills down on the table and walked away from the bar. He rubbed his eyes and headed in the direction of the staircase. He walked the few flights up to his room. The light was on under Erik's door but when Charles reached out with his mind to see what Erik was doing he found the room empty. He sighed and put the key into the lock. Erik sat in a chair at the far end of his room, a chess set sat on the room's only small table.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Erik asked, not expecting an answer. Charles sat down across from his friend and made the first move.

He was bleary eyed and agitated as he made his way down the street back to the government building. The hotel tea was water and overly sweet. The eggs runny and like cement in his stomach. He glared at the guard as they entered the lift and glared at the silver walls of the elevator during the entire descent. He pasted on a smile when he was escorted to a heavy wooden door, the door he knew Erik had walked through the day before.

In the parlor the girl stood completely still. Her posture was rigid and her eyes bore into his. He crossed the room in a few strides and stuck his hand out, "Charles Xavier. Delighted to make your acquaintance." He pumped her hand up and down vigorously and grinned. He felt the edges of her mind probe his, as if she was trying to get a feel of what he was like. Her mind was nervous, tentative, as he let her into his own. He let her see that he had no mal intentions towards her, he was simply curious.

"Rae." She said, and offered no more.

"So you're a telepath." He sat down in the same seat that Erik had the day before and poured himself a cup of tea. He helped himself to a lovely looking cream filled cookie.

"Yes," she said slowly. She stayed standing up. Charles wondered where the confident girl he had seen Erik interact with yesterday was.

"Fascinating, I must admit I have never met another telepath before. Do you mind if I…" He gesture to her head. She shook her head. He smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile and gently touched her mind. She let him riffle through certain memories, schooling at Oxford, her work on psychology, a few of her missions for the government. But there was a large wall that Charles encountered, a wall that he did not try to break through. He wanted her trust and respect.

"Your work on the mind is quite interesting," he said finally, when he removed himself from her mind.

She shrugged. "I suppose it is fitting for a telepath to be interested in the working of the mind."

Charles shook his head, "I was never interested in the way it worked, I could see into it. I was more interested in the genetics of mutations."

"That is a narrow view on mutants Mr. Xavier." She seated herself across from him and crossed her legs demurely. "Part of our power comes from the mind. Without the mental ability to access our mutations or control them we are nothing but animals with special abilities. One can create a sort of gateway system in their own mind so they can use their powers properly."

Charles was excited; she was perfect for what they were trying to do. "I'd like to invite you to come back to the States with us Miss Rae. Mr. Lehnsherr and I are working on a sort of project with other mutants. We want to train them to be in full control of what they can do."

"You do not need me." She said.

"Yes we do," Charles said vehemently. "I understand mutation on a cellular level. I know the genetics of it but I know nothing of the brain. That is clearly your area. You can help us train our mutants to master their powers mentally. Help them understand the brain functions that allow them to do such amazing things." He paused for a moment, as if contemplating his words. "And I think you and I have a lot to learn about each other. I've never talked to another telepath about our abilities before. I'd like to see how we differ, how we are the same. I think we can help you just as much as you can help us."

She looked down into her teacup and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure." She whispered. "I've really never been away from the MI5 for long. Besides school and missions. I belong here Mr. Xavier."

"Please," his voice was desperate. "Please come with us."

She was quiet for another moment, Charles's heart raced. "The MI5 will require weekly reports on our progress. They don't want Shaw helping the Soviets out in any way. Mutually assured destruction does not appeal to the government."

Charles grinned and extended his hand. Rae took it and smiled. "Welcome to the team Rae." He said excitedly.

The plane ride to Westchester was silent. It was clear that Erik and Rae were very uncomfortable with each other. Neither spoke a single word. Charles, however, spent the majority of the ride in Rae's head. They talked about their research, allowing each other to see what they discovered.

Her research was based in the control of the mind. She had studied the idea of mind over matter for mutants and their powers. How much control was a factor in the extent of what they could do. How the mentality that mutation was abnormal hurt their ability to utilize their power. Charles described his research with all the wordy quintessence of a molecular biologist. Rae was want to understand half of his explanation. He described the allelic basis of the mutation, the exact string of DNA that was code for certain mutations and how his DNA differed from a normal person's DNA. He wanted to work on extracting the DNA of other mutants to see where exactly in the genome the mutations started. He wanted to know how different the mutations were for each individual.

"The technology," he thought with what could only be described as a mental sigh. "Is not available yet, but I'd bet anything that in a few years we'll map out the entire human genome. Watson and Crick were only the beginning, darling."

Rae smiled in his direction. He was certainly excited about his work. The grin he was sporting was nothing less than megawatt. He was passionate about what he was doing, that much was for sure. He grinned back and pulled a book from his carry-on bag, leaving Rae to look around the private plane. Her eyes fell on Erik. He was curled in the window seat on the other side of the plane. He was huddled against the side of the machine, the left side of his body pressed completely against the metal. He nursed a large glass of whiskey which he occasionally took a sip from. She had to admit, he was a handsome man. All angles and hard line completely opposite to the curvature of her own body. His eyes met hers and she held his gaze for a moment before he looked away. For a moment she thought about taking a peak into his mind, but thought better of it. She finished her inspection of the plane, curled up in her seat and promptly fell asleep.