Chapter Two

A Perfect Fare

"Charles!" Raven chased after him through the filthy vent system.

He was fast on his feet making it harder for Raven to catch up to him as he smacked his way through the grate above him. Raven cursed when a burst of steam almost blocked her path obscuring her vision as Charles continued running from her. She wasn't prepared for this kind of reaction and she felt like an idiot. Charles was the Fifth Element, possessing immense power beyond even her comprehension.

He was capable of anything and using Stryker to escape the facility was barely the tip of the iceberg. She jumped up into the next vent and caught a glimpse of brown hair and pale skin vanishing into a tunnel leading out onto the side of the building.

Raven gasped as Charles hunched down and stared out across the vast city. For the moment he just sat there giving Raven time to quickly move through the tunnel only for Charles to turn and stare at her. His blue eyes narrowed as a frown marred his features. Raven found herself rooted to the spot, willing her brother to try and remember but he quickly turned and started moving along the ledge.

Cars zoomed by causing Raven to wince against the sound and deafening roar of the engines as she followed after Charles. The sirens of several police vehicles were already screeching through the air. She couldn't let Charles become any more scared than he already was. His mind had to be fragmented due to the reconstruction. If she lost him now there was no chance she'd find him safe again.

Raven pushed her hair from her eyes as she stepped out onto the thin stone ledge. She wobbled a little when she looked down. She was so high up there was a thick layer of smog below covering the lower section of the city. Raven turned and caught sight of Charles rounding a corner. Raven pressed her hands against the stone wall and followed after him.

Stepping out onto a ledge like this wasn't the best idea she ever had but she wasn't going back without Charles. Raven managed to make it around the corner when her heart froze at the sight of a police car flashing a light against Charles who was pressed against the wall. His hands were up in a gesture of surrender as the police told him not to move.

"Charles..." Raven whispered as her brother looked at the car then down below. "CHARLES NO!"

Before she could move Charles spread his arms and leapt off the ledge. Time seemed to freeze in that moment. Charles with his head thrown back and his arms spread out like he was trying to fly. The police car immediately moved when he jumped. Her eyes followed him as he fell through the traffic, sheer terror gripping her heart as he plummeted down until finally falling into a yellow cab.

The cab veered off course while avoiding other cars. Raven noticed that the cop car was taking off after the cab while the blue skinned mutant retreated back into the building. She had to find out what cab that was before she lost the trail.

"What happened?" Moira asked fearfully when Raven made it back to the main lab.

"Charles is gone. He's in a cab." Raven was already rushing out of the door with Moira and Hank hot on her heels.

"He's gone?" Hank clutched the book he was carrying. "This is not good. This is really bad."

"There are millions of cabs in New York." Moira jogged behind the mutant. "How are we going to find it?"

"He fell right into the cab. The driver will have to send it to get fixed." Raven replied steadily despite the fear consuming her.

"Ambassador Darkholme," Stryker's harsh voice stopped her. "What the hell happened in there?"

"I know how this looks Mr President but right now we need to track Charles down." Raven really had no time to be pleasant. "He's scared and in an alien environment. I don't have time to stay around here."

"There's a highly dangerous mutant on the loose and you expect me to just let you walk out of here?" Stryker snarled harshly.

"I'm sorry that Charles used you to escape," Raven continued on even when Stryker looked like he swallowed a lemon. "But you know what's coming. We need to bring him back here."

"I know that he's dangerous and capable of god knows what." Stryker replied. His cold eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms. "I'm going to use my own men to bring him in."

"I'm going with them." Raven said immediately.

"He attacked the President," Raven felt her skin crawl at the sound of that voice. She met Sebastian Shaw briefly today but there was something about the man that just filled her with unease. "Just be grateful we don't declare this as an act of war."

"Charles was scared!" Raven yelled angrily. "He died and had to be reconstructed! I can help him."

"We bring him in Ambassador Darkholme." Shaw interrupted her swiftly. There was an almost gleeful look in his eyes. "He needs to be contained for the next six months. He stays here and you train him or whatever you need to do."

"He's my responsibility." Raven balled her fists.

"And we'll keep you informed." Shaw brushed her aside. "I'm sure you understand our position."

Moira was red with anger while Hank tried to say something to help but Shaw and the President were already moving along the corridor. Raven was breathing harshly as she was brushed aside. She had to be the one to find Charles. She had waited for 300 years to see him again. The humans wouldn't bring him in safe, she just knew it.

"Now what do we do?" Hank's voice brought her out of her dark thoughts. "We still need to gather the stones."

"I'll handle that." Raven turned and faced them. "The stones are safe but right now we need to get Charles back."

"We'll do whatever you bid my lady." Moira replied.

"I need to find out who was driving that cab." Raven ran a hand through her red hair.

"Do you know what company if belonged to?" Hank asked. That would at least narrow the search down.

"I only saw a large SI in a blue circle on the roof before Charles hit it." The mutant muttered.

"That's Stark Industries." The trio were alerted to Dr Banner coming out of an office behind them. "I can help you find the right cab."

"Dr Banner," Moira wondered how much of the earlier conversation he heard. "You're offering to help us find Charles?"

"How?" Raven asked.

"I have Tony Stark on speed dial." Bruce held up his phone. "He can find that cab faster than anyone else. Besides he owes me a favour."

"Why are you helping?" Raven asked wearily.

"Because despite what Shaw just said I saw a scared man in the chamber. I'm not an expert on this Fifth Element stuff but the last thing he needs is to be locked up in some lab." Bruce kept his gaze locked with Raven's as he spoke.

"Ok, make the call." Raven motioned for Hank and Moira to follow her. "We need to get the stones now. You two go back to your apartment and wait for me there."

"I'm sorry to ask this my lady but was that true what you said back there?" Moira asked gently. "That you're his sister?"

"Yes," Raven sighed heavily. "It'll take too long to explain. I promise to tell you everything when he's safe."

"We understand." Moira replied despite her misgivings. How could the Fifth Element be her brother?

The two priests nodded and left Raven for the taxi port.

Lower Manhattan

Erik frowned when the blue eyed man backed away further into the seat, his arms wrapping around his legs in a sign of fear. He was breathing harshly but after a while he calmed down and leaned forward in the seat, his hands now pressing against the glass again. He stared openly at Erik causing the man to squirm uneasily when a bright smile bloomed across the man's face.

"Are you ok?" Erik murmured when the man started giggling happily.

"Hjjllem!" the man exclaimed loudly. "Kilhum geuelb!"

"What? I didn't understand a word of that." Erik shook his head. "Where did you come from?"

"Jillrej hj gullmw ruttl." The man waved his arms excitedly. "Kio bji skktrr."

"Look, I don't understand you." Erik pinched the skin between his eyes. "Why did I have to get the crazy one?"

"Kuhy BOOM!" the man slapped his hands against the glass causing Erik to jump a little.

"Boom? Finally a word I get." Erik breathed out his relief. "Yeah, I understand boom."

"Bada boom..." blue eyes titled his head. "Big bada boom."

Erik stared at the now quiet man who was nestled back against the leather seat. Where the hell had this guy come from? Everyone on Earth was given a communicator chip at birth to allow cross species communication. He knew his chip wasn't damaged or fried so why couldn't he understand the blue eyed man? He couldn't take him home but he couldn't just drop him off at the nearest hospital.

If he couldn't speak English then it would only cause more problems. The sudden blare of a siren drew Erik's attention away from his blue eyed passenger. A cop car was floating nearby and one of the officers was already yelling instructions at him over the communications system.

"You have a passenger aboard that is to be taken into custody. Open your door and hand him over." The officer instructed.

"This is not my day." Erik muttered as he opened the passenger door causing the man to whimper and move away from the open door.

"Thank you for your co-operation."

"Sorry Blue Eyes." Erik looked at him in the mirror. "But I can't lose another point."

"Kiuhykk..." the man whimpered. "Hjklli hmki syfnm."

"Look I'm sorry you're being chased by these guys but I can't get into trouble." Erik rubbed his face.

"We're going to connect with your cab. Don't activate the engine." The officer warned.

"Pa-lese..."

Erik froze in his seat when that one word was spoken in a terrified whisper. He turned around and stared at the clearly scared man who was shaking. The officer has now placed the thick metal hook into his cab's roof causing the man to gasp.

"Haelp me."

"I..." Erik swallowed thickly. "I can't help you. I'm sorry."

"Ha-haelp me."

"Don't," Erik squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't ask me that."

"Jukllir!" the man yelled then pressed two fingers against his right temple.

"What the hell?" Erik turned back to the officers when they didn't say anything.

The cab driver waited for a few moments when he realized none of the men were moving. They were frozen in their seats, one man reaching out getting ready to take the blue eyed passenger. Erik stared in shock at Blue Eyes who was narrowing his own gaze at the cops. Was he doing this to them? His eyes seemed to flash turning those blue orbs dark for a moment. Fuck, if he was doing this then he had to be an alien.

If that was the case then why couldn't Erik understand a damn word he spoke? But he said please in that broken English of his. Erik couldn't deny hearing that word. Now Blue Eyes was slumping in the chair and the cops were beginning to move again.

"My mother's going to kill me."

Erik started the engine and took off at full speed before the cop could reach his passenger. The cab speed fast through the traffic lanes as the sound of sirens came from behind them. Erik narrowly avoided ramming into cars as he went lower into the smog filled underbelly of the city. Even the cops wouldn't come down here without good reason. The worst kind of criminal usually would set up shop in this place, long forgotten by the people living in the sunlight.

Erik could hear Blue Eyes yelling frantically in that weird language but he sounded happy about the chase. Erik cursed when he reached a dead end and the sirens were getting closer. Killing the lights he activated the gravity on the ship and pressed it against the brick wall of an ancient apartment complex. Certain that the cab would hold he killed the engine and waited.

"I don't know what you did to piss these guys off but I must be insane helping you." Erik muttered as the search lights broke through the smog. "We'll stay here for a little while then move on."

"Jliopp dhk njehkfm kej." The small voice spoke in the darkness of the cab.

"Ok, this is not working out." Erik turned around and looked down through the glass. The man wearing the strange white bandage outfit was curled up on the other side. "At least tell me your name."

"Jklip?" an elegant eyebrow was raised.

"Me Erik." The driver pointed to his chest. He felt like an idiot when the man just stared at him. "Erik. Do you have a name?"

The man looked thoughtful for a moment as he ran his fingers through his mop of brown hair. Erik wondered if maybe asking for help was a flunk when the man gave him an unsure look.

"Charles."

"Charles? Suits you..." the driver muttered but at least now he had a name to work with. "We'll go back to my place when they leave."

Charles still looked like he was ready to bolt at the next loud noise but he nodded and settled into the seat. Erik waited for another fifteen minutes and after he was sure the cops had left he started his own route back home. If he was lucky the police didn't get his number but he couldn't take the cab to get fixed right away. The police wanted Charles and even now Erik had to wonder why he was helping the man, alien whatever the hell he was out? The man kept shattering away in the background and stopped when Erik finally made it back to his apartment block. He'd need to call in a few favours to get the damn cab fixed and gain more points on his license.

And today had started out so well.

"Come on." Erik parked the cab in the garage and got out.

He went to the passenger back seat and held out his hand. "You can't stay in there forever."

"Killop hsyi kiem." Charles murmured as he carefully reached out and took Erik's hand.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Erik tugged his hand and led him into the corridor that connected to his apartment.

"Ok, you stay here." He made Charles sit down on the bed. "You need some clothes and a shower."

"Jiklp guik anf mwid jskn kjfn." Charles rambled on as he pulled his legs up onto the bed.

"We need to work on that language thing." Erik managed to find some clothing but Charles was smaller and skinnier than him. Right now they would have to do just until he found something else.

"Are you ok?" Erik asked when he hears a groan of pain.

"Ok?" Charles repeated as he held his right hand. Only now did Erik notice the blood.

"Let me see." He knelt down and examined the cut. It wasn't deep and it sliced across Charles' palm. It had to have happened when he fell through the roof. "You're lucky this is all you got."

"Lucky?" Charles cocked his head.

"I need to clean this." Erik found a bandage and some antibacterial fluid in a small case he kept next to the shower. "This'll sting a little."

"Sorry." Erik said when Charles winced as he cleaned and bandaged the cut. "This should do."

"Jikmdj kdune." Charles gave him a tiny smile causing Erik to swallow.

"Ok, you need to get cleaned up." He pulled Charles off the bed and pushed him into the shower room. "Stay here ok."

"Ok." Charles nodded.

"Mama," Erik called his mother the moment he was certain Charles was going to stay where he was. "I need a favour."

"Erik, when I expected you to call back I didn't expect this." Edie sounded weary. It wasn't often that Erik called for help.

"Mama, I don't have time to explain. Bring some clothes two sizes smaller than mine." Erik cursed when he heard something break from the shower room. "Dammit! Don't touch anything in there!"

"Erik?" Edie asked. "Do you have someone over?"

"I'll explain later. Please bring the clothes over Mama." Erik pleaded with her. He hung up before she could say another word.

"Charles?" Erik opened the door and saw Charles looking down at the broken glass bottle. Where the hell did he find that thing?

"Why did I bring you home again?" Erik sighed as he started cleaning up the mess. Charles just looked at him innocently before answering.

"Oops?"

It took her four hours to get to the apartment block where her son was located but Edie Lensherr finally managed to make it after waiting in traffic. She found some clothes in a hurry but her mind was going through different scenarios as to what her son was up to.

Usually Erik preferred solving his problems alone no matter how much Edie told him that asking for help wasn't a bad thing. She took the express elevator up to Erik's block and stepped into the graffiti littered hallway. This wasn't the nicest place to live but she had given up on trying to get her son to move back home with her. She didn't live that far away but he was so stubborn just like his father.

Edie knocked on the door when she reached the apartment and waited for the locks to be undone. Finally she heard the lock slid away and the door opened revealing her somewhat harried looking son who was soaked. Erik pulled her into the apartment just as she was about to open her mouth.

"Erik, what is going on?" Edie demanded once she was inside. "Why are you wet?"

"Did you bring the clothes Mama?" he asked.

"This was the quickest thing I could find." She handed him the back. "Now what is going on? You're being very secretive Erik."

"Wait here," he stepped into the shower room for a few minutes then emerged again. "Ok, just promise to you'll hear what I have to say before you kill me."

"Oh Erik." Edie murmured as she took a seat. "What did you do?"

Erik took a breath before he told his story. Edie kept her eyes fixed on him, keeping her expression neutral until he reached the part about Charles crashing into his cab. When he got to the part about escaping from the police needless to say Edie was not pleased.

"Are you insane Erik?" the old woman yelled. Despite her age she was very intimidating. "This Charles could be an escaped convict. He could be wanted by the police all over the city. Why did you help him?"

"He's not human Mama. He did something to the police; he made them stop moving." Erik ran a hand through his dirty blond locks. "But he asked for help. There was something about him Mama...God, I know what I did was stupid but I wanted to help him."

"Erik!" a voice called out before Edie could say anything.

The door to the shower room opened and Charles stepped out wearing light brown skin tight pants, black boots, a white t-shirt and what looked like orange suspenders on his shoulders forming a V shape down his torso and held between his legs. He looked like a stripper during his warm up act. Erik stared in horror at his mother.

"I told you it was all I could get!" she defended herself.

"Erik, jus kjfn jfhnejc kisl?" Charles cocked his head at Edie.

"He can't speak English." The driver murmured when his mother stared at him. "And I think he's a mutant."

"And you decided to bring him home?" she crossed her arms. Erik turned red, something he hadn't done since his teens.

"Klimji kcnd..."Charles smiled shyly at the older woman. "Ilnd mdf kc jhne kjfb kc."

"Erik, this has to be one of the stupidest decisions you've made." Despite her words Edie spoke fondly. If nothing else Charles seemed shy and nice. The language he spoke was nothing like Edie had ever heard before but there was something almost soothing about him.

"I'll let him stay here for a few days then see if I can find someone who recognises him." Erik said.

"He's certainly hungry..." Edie watched in fascination as Charles took out what food was in the fridge and began chewing anything that was edible.

"He'll cost me a fortune in food if he keeps that up." Erik mused.

"Kk kdne kfllmj kfhen?" Charles held up a small chicken. Erik had completely forgotten he even had that.

"That's a chicken." The driver replied as Charles sniffed it. "It's good."

"Chicken good!" Charles smiled brightly after he bit into it.

"He's like a child almost." Edie mused as she watched Charles sniff the other food he found.

"You've never done anything this impulsively before Erik." His mother motioned for him to sit next to her on the battered bed. Charles averted his eyes as he continued chewing on some meat he found. "Why did you bring him here?"

"He asked for help." Erik murmured as he stared down at his hands. "He just...I wanted to help him."

"You always did have a good heart." Edie rubbed his back. "But this is dangerous Erik..."

"Charles?" the tall German was staring at the man who had gone still and dropped the food he was eating.

"Ahh!" the man let out a cry of pain and grabbed his head.

"What's wrong with him?" Edie jumped off the bed when Charles starting groaning in pain.

"I don't know." Erik reached out and gripped the man's wrists when he started thrashing. "Charles, what's wrong?"

"Jmkkkd! Ijkdjn kidm lnfel Moira!" Charles cried out in pain.

"Dammit!" Erik squeezed Charles' wrists hard forcing the blue eyed man to really look at him. "What's wrong Charles?"

"Priestess...Order of Light..." his voice was raspy but Erik understood the word perfectly. "Please...Moira McTaggert."

"Who's that?" Edie asked as Charles calmed down but groaned in pain.

"I...remember..." blue eyes gazed up at Erik, pleading in those depths. "Priestess...Moira."

"Erik?" his mother approached when Charles went limp in his grasp. The man had fallen unconscious. "What was that about? Who's Moira McTaggert?"

"I don't know." The driver released Charles. "Shit, what the fuck am I going to do now?"

"Language." Edie cuffed him round the ear. "If he's a mutant we don't know what he's really capable of. Maybe this Moira is someone who can help."

"Even if she can help where do I start looking for her?" Erik placed Charles on the bed.

"Didn't you pay attention in history class?" his mother rolled her eyes. "The Order of Light is a sect of holy men and women. They've been around for centuries."

"So what do they have to do with Charles?" Erik frowned.

"The Order is pretty exclusive." Edie replied. "They've only just become better known since Earth made contact with alien species."

"At least finding this Moira should be easier." Erik looked relieved. "This is the last thing I expected to happen when I woke up today."

Edie shook her head but she had a fond smile on her face. Despite his attitude Erik had a good heart and would help someone in need. He got that from his father. Glancing down at the sleeping man her son had decided to help out Edie wondered just what her child had gotten involved in this time. Edie glanced over at her son who was going through a registry on the internet.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for McTaggert." Erik typed in her name in the search box. "Google is a wonderful."

"You don't think that will narrow the search do you? There could be thousands of Moira's on the planet." Edie frowned when Erik began to grin.

"But there is only one living in New York who is also High Priestess of the Order." He tapped the screen which was now showing Moira's address.

Finally he was one step closer to fixing his problem.

Somewhere in Deep Space

On the edge of the galaxy a battered ship drifted through space.

It contained a small crew which managed to keep the vessel operational for the trips to other planets where they could pick up materials. The crew couldn't risk landing on an occupied planet not when their leader was a wanted war criminal. For over 100 years Laufey had kept off the radar of the humans and Asgardians. He had spent a century stuck within this piece of shit vessel with only his most loyal men for company.

His exile had only increased his hatred for the humans along with the rulers of Asgard. He wanted them to pay for what they had done to him and his home world. He had been a feared king once, feared and respected across the galaxy.

Laufey refused to just fade away into memory and in recent days he finally found a way to ensure his legacy wouldn't die out. It seemed he had a benefactor that would give him Earth on a platter if he gathered four stones of power and destroyed this so called Fifth Element. Laufey had first encountered this entity in his dreams and even then it was a voice but it was one Laufey dared not disobey.

It was something Laufey associated with darkness and he had taken to calling the entity Shadow for lack of a better name. There was something incredibly powerful and ancient in that voice that told him to disobey would mean death. Laufey bowed to no one yet the voice compelled him to listen and act out the orders given.

The fighters he had built for his men had proven suitable for the job when they attacked a Genosha ship carrying the Fifth Element. Laufey had thought the job done when his benefactor informed him that the Element lived and the stones were still missing. Laufey had awoken with a crippling migraine and blood oozing from his nose and ears. Failure was not taken lightly with the Shadow.

Laufey was pulled from his thoughts when the door to the bridge opened permitting a small group of humans. It seemed that Shadow's influence reached to the humans with ambition and a terrible greed for power and money. Laufey had no other choice but to tolerate them. They had a much better chance at finding the Element and stones on Earth.

"There's been a change of plans." One of the humans said. Laufey didn't turn to look at him. "The Element escaped the lab. He's somewhere in New York."

"How does this help me in any way?" Laufey growled out. "How is this going to help us?"

"It seems that the mutant who brought him is his sister. We can use this to our advantage." The human replied.

"What about the stones?" Laufey closed his red eyes. "We need those more than seeing the Element dead. Killing him is secondary."

"The Element is connected to the stones. We find him we get the information." Another one of the humans replied. "It also appears that his power is telepathy. He can control minds as easily as breathing."

"Someone who can read minds?" Laufey turned and glared at them. "How do you intend to capture him?"

"Don't worry about that. My years of research is about to pay off." The human said smugly. "Just have your ships and men ready to go when we locate the stones."

"I've been waiting for this day." Laufey replied. His red eyed glowed. "Failing the Shadow is the last thing I want."

"That is something we can agree on. I'll contact you once the Element is located." With that the human departed. Laufey glared when the leader stopped. "I've left some new toys for your men to play with when we go after the stones. Enjoy them."

Laufey turned away as the humans left. He despised the humans as much as he hated Asgard and all it stood for. He would give Shadow what it wanted even if he had to co-operate with the humans. In the end it wouldn't matter. Once Shadow received the stones it had promised to give Laufey the Earth and Asgard.

Soon he would finally have his revenge.

hey guys, sorry about the wait but my work load is beginning to lighten up now so I can have more time to write.

thanks to everyone who faved, reviewed and follow this story.

starting on chapter 3 now and hoping to have it up this week.