Three
"Elle please, what's wrong?" Charles asked worriedly as his oldest friend continued to stare out into the dark. The naval vessel they were on was plowing steadily towards Shaw's rendezvous and the wind had picked up considerably as they progressed through the night. Charles felt sick; Adele had never been this way before. All through their childhood they had been at times even closer then he and Raven, having similar mutations meant that more often then not conversation had been inside their heads, they had had no secrets from each other. Now here she was hiding, something she had never done in all the time he had known her and it genuinely frightened him.
"Elle?" He begged and she turned to him with a sigh.
"There's nothing wrong, I'm just tired from the trip." She said calmly and he had to hand it to her, she was an accomplished liar.
"Don't lie to me." He said softly and a small smile spread over her face.
"I never could with you, even when it was your birthday." She laughed a little at the memories then sunk back into her lachrymose mood.
"Don't worry about me Charles, I promise you it's nothing." She said and he frowned, still unconvinced. He opened his mouth to say something when the flood lights at the top of the ship suddenly flicked on drawing his attention away and towards the ocean in front of them that was now lit up as though it were still day time. An expensive-looking white cruiser sat on the water directly ahead and Charles ran to the front of the boat to get a better view. Adele raced after him and, perched beside Raven and Moira, gazed with slight trepidation towards Shaw's vessel.
"There's something very wrong about all this." She whispered to Raven who looked at her apprehensively.
"What?" She asked but Adele shook her head.
"It's just a feeling, let's call her intuition." She joked and Raven smiled through her nervousness.
"I can't get through." Charles said and even Adele started in shock.
"What?"
"There's someone like me on that ship, I can't get through. Oh this is fascinating." He continued happily and Adele fought with an amused grin.
"Like you?" The CIA manager asked and Charles shook his head apologetically.
"A telepath, I'm sorry but it looks like I'm not going to be of much help to you I'm afraid." E said regretfully when Adele suddenly felt a ripple in the air. Being a telekinetic meant that she could move objects around her with the force of her mind, a bonus gift of hers being a sought of second sense to other mutants powers when they were being used.
"Charles, there's someone else out there." She said and Charles shot her a worried look.
"Yes and their so angry." He murmured softly, straining to see in the dark. Suddenly the cruiser's giant anchor was hoisted clean out of the water, twisting and hovering like a cobra about to strike.
"Shit!" Adele whispered and gripped the railing in front of her until the knuckles shone white. Suddenly, like the serpent it so resembled the anchor suddenly plunged into the side of the ship and ripped through it as though it were butter. Raven gasped as the ship began to catch alight and Moira started yelling orders at the crew. People were running everywhere including Charles who was running to the side of the ship, hand to his temple.
"Erik!" He yelled and Adele suddenly realised what was happening. The ship's bottom had opened and Shaw was escaping in a submarine that had been hidden there unbeknownst to everyone. She knew this because the man in the water was trying his hardest to make it stop.
"Charles don't!" She screamed as her friend, ignoring her cries jumped straight into the water.
"Charles!" She screamed and tried to find the submerged machine. The man, presumably called Erik, still had a mental hold on the sub and was being dragged along behind it. She leant her own support, not to stop it completely but to allow Charles a chance to find the man and hopefully get him safely to the surface. She struggled to keep the sub in place, feeling its phenomenal tug as her mind strained to hold it and clutched the railing tightly, feeling all the energy beginning to drain from her body. Her legs were shaking and her head was beginning to pound like it never had before; her stomach was doing jack jumps and she was feeling very ill. She hadn't worked with something this big for years. Small things like tables and chairs were a breeze and even people or cars on the odd occasion but she'd never moved an entire submarine before.
Charles you have to hurry, I cannot hold this bloody thing much longer. She inwardly bellowed and felt the moment when Erik finally let the submarine go. She felt his anguish, pain and fury and pushed it aside to run to the side of the ship where Raven and Moira were also crouched. Charles' head burst from the white, foaming water and another man's next to him. They waved and began to swim over to the side of the ship. Adele was there in an instant, helping the man called Erik in first and giving him a brief smile (a shocked expression the result of that action alone). Charles' hand found hers and she heaved him aboard with host of muttered swear words. He lay there panting next to Erik and the two of them shared an amused look.
Oh brother. She thought bemusedly, then felt the whole world slip sideways and crumbled to the deck in a dead faint…
She was in someone's arms. That was the first thing she noticed when she came to.
"Charles…" She whispered and struggled to stand up by herself. She fought to stand and tipped herself out of Charles arms causing hm to panic and nearly drop her.
"Adele!" He exclaimed shocked at her violent movements.
"I'm fine Charles, just let me stand." She commanded and he stepped back, a wounded look on his face. She turned to find Raven, Moira the CIA manager and the light haired man called Erik gazing at her curiously. She shrugged and simply indicated for them to keep walking. Erik shot her an amused look and she quirked a brow in his direction. Definitely the cheerful sort, she commented as she began to follow his slim form. He was taller than Charles, thinner and with much shorter hair. He had blue eyes like Charles but unlike her friend's friendly, shining orbs this man's were cold and filled with the saddest pain she had ever seen. She shuddered but followed him to the car, sat down next to him in the back and didn't say a word the entire trip to the facility.
"And this is where all our technological experimentation is carried out, headed by our own Dr. McCoy." The portly CIA manager said, bringing the tour to an end. They were in an enormous hanger and a young, scholarly looking man appeared out of the shadows.
"Oh, Hank glad we didn't miss you. These are the new recruits I was talking about…" The man continued and the young man stepped forwards.
"Hank here graduated for Harvard at 15 and heads our research facility."
"Oh excellent another mutant already here, who come you didn't tell us?" Charles asked stepping forwards, shaking the young man's hand exuberantly and turning to face the CIA director with interest. A look of horror crossed his face and Adele's heart sank.
"Charles…" She sighed and Hank looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.
"Because you didn't know." Charles answered softly and turned to face Hank with an apologetic look.
"I am so sorry." He whispered and Hank shook his head.
"Oops." Erik muttered right next to Adele's ear and she jumped. She scowled playfully into his face and poked a finger at him.
"Excuse me but I expect a good lady such as myself to feel safe a secure in this facility and I expect you to behave not scare me half to death in your roguish ways." She threatened haughtily and he smiled thinly.
"A good lady? When you find one let me know and I will be most happy to comply." He teased and she grinned.
"Oh you unspeakable cad." She mocked, shaking a fist under his nose. His smirk broadened then a serious expression overtook it.
"I understand that I have you to thank for trying to slow that submarine down, Miss…?" He asked and she nodded.
"Uh Yes, Adele McAllistar and you are Erik…?" She asked and he smiled.
"Lenserr. I believe however it was probably for the time being, the best thing for you to have let go… I have a feeling that one day you will get your day." She said seriously and he looked shocked.
"Are you a telepath like Charles?" He asked and she shook her head.
"Telekinetic, more like your own mutation but I can control a wider range of objects." She said and he looked interested.
"He would have loved you." Erik said, almost to himself and descended into a deeper mood. Just as Hank, who d removed his shoes, did a sumasault and attached himself to the hanging model of a strange looking plane above them. Charles clapped and looked excited, the manager looked impressed, Moira seemed more than comfortable being surrounded by mutants and Raven… Raven had an expression o her face that Adele had never seen before. It was more than open admiration.
"Well I'll be fucked, of all the people she could have…" Adele trailed off as the group slowly disbanded. Charles beckoned her over to where he, Erik and Moira stood with the director.
"Seeing as those two are busy it seems us adults," She grimaced but nodded,
"Are to start thinking of recruitment ideas." He continued and she sighed.
"Because we are to be the new Division X right?" She pointed out and he nodded.
"Where did Erik go?" She asked and the group realised that the man had slipped away. They turned to find him and a sheepish looking pair of mutants coming there way. As he approached she couldn't help but catch Erik's sleeve.
"Couldn't give them five more minutes, he might have go some. Looks like he needs it too and Raven… well its one up on Professor Xavier over here.' She teased and he quirked an eyebrow at her while grinning slightly.
"After you my dear." He said mockingly and she frowned.
"I'm no ones dear, got it?" She whispered fiercely and paled as she saw Moira laugh at something Charles had said to her. She fixed the pavement with a steady gazed but didn't miss Erik's quiet.
"No, you most certainly are not." To hurt on both sides to say anything she kept walking and refused to say another word all evening.
The next day…
"I've never been able to test this out before however I'm pretty sure that there should be no problems." Hank called as he worked his way around the machines. They were inside a giant bubble shaped observatory that housed a device that supposedly helped find mutants. Charles and Erik had been talking to the director all morning and eventually a middle ground had been reached.
"Cerebro amplifies brainwaves, mutants have a different pattern to most humans and I'm sure that by using this we can find them." Hank continued and Charles chuckled as he stepped towards the middle of the room where an odd helmet like contraption stood in between two handle bars.
"Cerebro, as in Spanish for brain." He commented and Hank nodded.
"Well now I know how it feels to a lab rat." Chares commented smiling at Adele as he stepped forward to take the helmet.
"Trust me Charles, this is the least of your worries. I've been a lab rat, I know." Erik said lightheartedly from beside her and she turned to stare at him. Charles had explained to her, even though she had been little in the way of conversation; that Erik had been in the concentration camps of Germany and had lost his entire family there. It explained the pain and anger towards Shaw aright, apparently he had been a warden there and Erik had been on his trail for years now. With a sigh she turned back to see Hank securing the helmet to Charles' head.
"It would be easier if you let me shave your head." He said and Adele couldn't help it she sniggered loudly. Everyone turned to look at her and Charles smiled.
"Don't touch the hair." He said firmly and Hank sighed.
"You are much too fond of it Charles," Adele teased and Charles closed his eyes.
Yes, and I don't plan on changing that opinion any time soon. A sot voice informed her and she shook her head bemusedly.
"Three… two… one." Hank said and switched on the machine. Charles yelled and grabbed the poles beside him, Raven and Adele looked at each other worriedly then to the machine. It was flickering and the needle working backwards and forwards at great speeds finally settled into a pattern and began to fork out proper patterns. Adele clapped happily.
"It works!" Hank shouted happily and Raven gave him a hug.
"Of course it does." She told him happily and one again that look of shy adoration flew to her features. They stared at each other then panicked and stepped away to focus on different parts of the machine. Erik and Adele gave each other a look that was as cynical as it gets. The machine dinged and Charles lifted the helmet with a triumphant look on his charming face.
"Adele, pack a coat." He said and strode towards the door. Adele looked at Erik who smirked and ushered her towards it.
"Why oh mighty Xavier?" She asked mockingly and he looked at her curiously.
"Because where you, Erik and I are going it might just get a little bit chilly." He said and she sighed, ever annoyed at the male races inability to just get to the fucking point.
"Fuck men. She whispered under her breath as the three of them, co ordinates in hand stepped into the car and set of to their newest recruit.
"No you wait out here." Charles commanded and Adele rolled her eyes.
"Really, I won't look any less of a prostitute if I stay out here rather than go in there with you two, just let me come in." She demandedbut Charles wouldn't here of it.
"It is not a place for you to be in Adele." He said firmly and she scowled.
"What was the point of bringing me then?" She demanded and stormed off to smoke on the corner. From her vantage point she watched with no small amount of amusement as Charles and Eik walked into the strip club.
"Fucking hypocrites, god I need a drink." She said as she took another long puff on the cigarette in her hand.
"You offering specials darling?' A sleaseball of a man asked and she spat n the ground at his feet, violet eyes blazing.
"Keep walking you fucking piece of trash." She said and the man's eyes glowed dangerously.
"Be careful how you speak to me whore, you don't know who I am.' He said and moved into the light of the street lamp. He was thickset and large nosed with such a foul smell radiating from him that it made her gag slightly.
"I so do, you're just some ugly bastard who couldn't get laid with a two cent hooker from Amsterdam." She said bitingly and flicked her cigarette to the floor. She wasn't going t let another plane accident happen ever again and this man would get it if he stepped any closer.
"Bitch!" The man roared and flew at her with a drunken lurch. She slipped easily underneath his arm and turned to kick him into the curb.
"Keep your filthy hands off me or you will regret it." She spat disgustedly. He came at her again and she merely flicked her wrist in his direction and sent him flying into the wall. He hit it with a thump and slid to the floor.
"What are you?" He whispered, terrified.
"A pissed off woman waiting for a friend, now fuck off and leave me alone." She said and watched as he ran off down the street. A few minutes later Charles and Erik walked up to her, a tiny, beautiful Latino girl walking beside them. She was obviously a dancer and gazed at Adele hostilely. Adele merely stuck out her hand and smiled at her.
"Trust me sweetheart, I'm the least of your worries right now. What's your name?" Adele asked and the girl smiled.
"Angel." She said and Adele nodded.
"Well Angel I can see these two didn't think of trying to make you more comfortable; men… you can't live with them and can't live without them." She said mockingly and shrugged her jacket off. She handed it to the girl who was clad in a tight strippers outfit and the young girl shrugged the grey jumper over her head. She smiled at Adele and the two of them climbed into the back of the car whilst the two men hopped into the front with twin looks of confusion on their faces.
Can't live without us? Chares asked and she smiled bitterly.
Oh please Charles, I learnt to do that a long time ago. She answered not feeling as triumphant as she would have liked at the look of hurt on his face as they drove away.
Over the next few days Charles, Erik and Adele traveled all over America in search of mutants who showed up on Cerebro's list. There were four new recruits including Angel. Darwin, Alex and Sean had all been recruited soon after meeting Angel ad now all four were safely back at the CIA facility. They were all getting accustomed to the place but Adele was beginning to feel the need to leave. She couldn't watch it anymore. Charles and Moira seemed to be spending more and more time together as the days went by and even Raven seemed too busy with her developing feelings for Hank. Adele had been right in that case. The two of them had spent the first night discussing Raven's newfound feelings for Hank and the fact that Hank was going to try and find a cure for her outward mutation. The blue skinned girl had been sitting in her bathrobe on her bed and Adele had come and fixed her with a serious expression.
"I don't think that you should mess with these things Rae, I have a bad feeling about it." She had said and the girl had gone very quiet.
"What would you know?" She had asked and Adele's heart had stopped.
"I can't know Rae, and I'm sorry that can't but I'm just trying to think about this objectively." She had said but Raven had lost it.
"Objectively! Since when do you look at things objectively?" She had screamed and run into the bathroom in a flood of tears. It had taken an hour to coax her out again and the pair had yet really get back to their original position as confidantes. Sighing Adele leaned against the window sill, staring out into the grounds of the facility. Raven was her sister in all but blood yet it seemed there was much she didn't know about her.
"I really know how to fuck things up, maybe I should leave?" She wondered aloud and heard an intake of breath. She whirled around to find Charles standing in the shadows.
"Oh, Charles… I was… I mean I'm just going to…" She began but he stopped her with a firm wave. He stepped towards her and she tensed slightly.
This is Charles, THIS IS CHARLES.
"Are you avoiding me Elle?" He asked and for once there was no hint of humour in his voice. The past few days had been tough on them all but it seemed that even the almighty Charles Xavier was suffering as well.
"Of course not." She said and turned to look out the window again.
"Elle, look at me." He commanded and she reluctantly turned to face him. He was standing right next to her, blue eyes staring piercingly through the dark into her violet ones.
"I know something is wrong but you won't tell me what. You never smile anymore, you barely talk to me and I haven't seen Raven this miserable since Mother threw that ridiculous fourteenth birthday party all those years ago… what is going on?" He demanded and took her hands in his. She struggled to take them from his but he clung to them.
"I can't Charles, I can't… please let me go." She said quietly but desperately.
"No Elle, not until you tell me what is wrong." He said softly and she crumpled. She collapsed in on herself and he caught her and held her gently.
"It's nothing Charles, I just cannot touch what isn't mine." She said and he looked up confusedly. She stared into his face and reached up to straighten his messy brown hair. She ran her fingers through the wavy brown strands and he closed his eyes and smiled. It was something she had always done when they were kids; before he had to speak at a party, before his mother had come into the room or simply when they were lying in the library at home and no one was around. He smiled softly and suddenly tears threatened to spill over her eyelids. His own widened and he opened his mouth to speak. A cough brought their attention to the door behind them and they whirled around. Moira stood there and her eyes were cool as she took in the situation. Quickly Adele moved out from Charles' embrace and faced her.
"We leave tomorrow for Russia, tell Erik it's a lead on Shaw." She said stiffly and Charles called out.
"Just go Charles." Adele said softly and her friend turned to look at her, confused.
"She needs you, you two are good together." She said and began to walk away, the tears fighting to break free from their prison. She didn't here him follow but then again she didn't hear him move at all. She ran through the compound, threw open her, Angel and Raven's door and quickly got into bed. She was still beneath the covers when her roommates arrived and still awake long after the girls were snoring. The next morning she smiled and spoke cheerfully as she Charles, Erik and Moira prepared to boa the plane to Russia when all the while her heart felt like someone had sucked it dry of any feeling.