So my laptop wasn't charging, so I couldn't use it and was using my Nook instead for my source of internet. But I got a new laptop charger and that seems to have fixed the problem, at least for now.
The months pass, the entire team gets closer and closer. Jess opens up a bit more, ultimately joining the team. It is two months before their battle with Shaw, the team has just finished training and now everyone is relaxing.
"We should do something," Sean says, sitting down on a sofa in the living room, "what's the point in sitting around?"
"I think they just opened a new drive in close by," Raven says, "we could go and see a movie."
"So I can watch everyone in the team make out?" Sean asks, "no thank you."
"There's a bar downtown," Alex says, "how about a guy's' night?"
"Sounds good," Erik says, "I'm in."
"Sure, why not?" Charles agrees as Hank nods. The five guys head out of the mansion and to the bar to go drinking, minus Hank, who agrees to be the designated driver. Still no one knows the truth about Sean, minus Jess who he ended up telling, so they are a bit shocked when he's checking out guys.
"Have I had one too many or is Sean checking out that guy over there?" Charles quietly asks the others.
"I think he is," Erik answers quietly.
"Statistically speaking, about 10% of the population is homosexual," Hank says, "it makes sense that someone in our group of 9 people that someone is."
"I wonder why he didn't tell us," Alex says.
"Well, would you want someone to know?" Erik asks, "I'm not even sure he knows about it when he's sober."
"Anyway," Hank changes the subject, "how's your relationship with Jessica, Charles."
"I still don't think she trusts me," he says, "I don't know what else to do. Girls can be confusing."
"She has gotten closer to you lately," Alex adds.
"It doesn't seem like it," Charles says, then tries to change the subject, "how about some shots?"
"It is, she sits directly next to you," Erik says.
"Are you implying something?" Charles asks him, "because I'd rather you just say it."
"She likes you," Erik says, "I know your sister knows since she has been giving you small hints."
"Well, unlike you, I do not defile my friends' little sisters," Charles tells him.
"We love each other, so what's the problem?"
"She's my baby sister and you aren't married!" Charles exclaims, "plus, it's not like you waited very long!"
"Again, we love each other."
"So? That's not a good reason!" Charles exclaims.
"We've talked about it and it has to do with love."
"Since I'm actually a good friend, I'll stay away from your sister!" Charles says, getting another drink.
"I am actually giving you permission," Erik says, getting a beer, "I want her to be happy and if she's happy with you, I'm not going to intervene."
"Can we please stop talking about sleeping with each other's sister?" Hank asks, drinking something non alcoholic.
"They never said sleeping with anyone," Alex says, "Erik says that Charles can date his sister."
"Yeah, but Charles was ranting at Erik because he and Gabi are," Hank says, "and I don't want them to get into a fight."
"Too late for that, should I call Gabi?"
"No, just get them apart," Hank says, then looks around, "where'd Sean go?"
"I think he went to flirt with some guy."
"That's not going to end well," Hank sighs, "next time, we're going to the drive in."
"Yep."
Meanwhile, the girls were gossiping and giving each other makeovers.
"So, how are things with Hank?" Desiree asks Raven, "don't you get bored of all the sciencey stuff?"
"It is a bit annoying," Raven replies, "but I love him anyway. How's things with Alex?"
"Pretty good," Desiree says, "sometimes we run out of things to talk about, though."
"Maybe you should find something to do together," Gabi says.
"Like what? It's not like we have the right weather or water for surfing," Desiree says.
"Maybe that's the problem. You are too focused on surfing, maybe find something that isn't surfing based."
"Yea...maybe you are right," Desiree says, "I just didn't know much else than surfing."
"Just find something he likes," Jess suggests, eating from a bag of Cheetos.
"Okay, I can do that," Desiree smiles, "so, how's your situation with Charles? Have you told him about your feelings yet?"
"Feelings? What feelings?" Jess asks nonchalantly as she eats another Cheeto, "man, these things are awesome."
"There's no need to hide it," Raven says, "we can see the signs of it, plus Desiree and I may have been eavesdropping when you and Gabi were talking."
"All I said was that he's not a bad looking guy," Jess says, "or am I not allowed to think guys are cute now?"
"You did say that you like my brother," Gabi says, "you told me telepathically."
"I like him as a friend," she explains, "I'm not looking into dating. I'd sooner date Sean and he's….. annoying."
"I thought that he was gay?" Desiree asks.
"What?" Raven asks, completely shocked.
"I just get that vibe from him."
"But he used to hit on us all the time," Raven says, "there is no way that he's gay."
"He's in denial," Desiree says.
"It's not right to talk about people behind their backs," Jess tells them, "people have a right to their own personal lives."
"Yea you're right," Gabi says, "so to change the subject, how bout we watch a movie?" They all agree, so they find a movie to watch and turn it on. The boys don't return to the mansion until very late at night, by then the girls have gone to bed.
In the morning, everyone ends up in the kitchen, one at a time. They all fend for themselves with breakfast, the guys are mostly nursing their hangovers. Most of them have had too much to drink the night before.
"Where's Sean?" Raven asks when everyone else is already awake and downstairs.
"He went home with someone last night, I believe," Hank says, "I couldn't find him after last call when I was rounding up the others."
"Really? Wow," Raven says, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Well, he is single," Charles says, "he's welcome to do whatever he like as long as it's not stupid."
"True."
"I'm sure he'll be home soon," Hank says, "no need to worry. So, what's the plan for today?"
"Will you be able to train anyone with a hangover Charles?" Raven asks.
"No training today," Charles announces, "but get some exercise, okay? Go outside. Physical activity is good."
"Okay," everyone agrees. They all separate after a while and go off to do their own things. Jess and Gabi decide to train in the training room since the guys won't bother them. They both need the practice because they didn't start training at the same time as the others. They use their powers to hit the targets or in Gabi's case to hit it blindfolded.
"In what situation would you blindfolded in a battle?" Jess asks her.
"What if sand gets in my eyes or that one guy causes the wind to get bad enough that I can't see?" Gabi asks, "it's better to be prepared just in case."
"Whatever floats your boat," Jess says, hitting one of the now fireproof targets with a fireball. They continue when Gabrielle hears voices in her head, the same ones that tell her the usual. That she's useless, weak, pathetic and such, she gets so mad that her telekinetic powers get stronger than before and all of the targets are thrown across the room.
"Did those targets offend you or something?" Jess asks her, ducking to avoid being hit.
"Sorry," Gabi removes her blindfold, "it was...nothing."
"Clearly it wasn't," Jess says, "wanna fill me in?"
"Remember the voices I told you about?"
"Yeah," Jess says, "I remember."
"They have gotten worse since...since I read Shaw's mind."
"You can't listen to them," Jess says, "I've been there. And I almost died several times from listening to those voices."
"I've tried to stop them, but they just get stronger and stronger."
"You're a telepath. Just lock the voices away," Jess says.
"I did for a while but they just break out."
"Then have your brother do it. He's more powerful than you are. No offense," Jess says, "either that of talk to someone."
"Yea," Gabi says in a small voice.
"You know, I can't burn myself," Jess says.
"I know."
"I didn't find that out on accident," Jess tells her.
"You tried to burn yourself," Gabi says.
"That's what the voices said right after I got free," Jess says, "I thought my powers would be able to put me out of my suffering, but nope. That's why I hate them."
"I wish I had your powers," Gabi says, "my powers are hard to control, I can hear things I don't want to hear, it makes my voices stronger and it hurts."
"All I can do is destroy," she says, "fire just destroys."
"But it also brings new life."
"New life?" Jess asks.
"Yes. Fire can start new life by getting rid of all of the bad things. It cleans all of the horrible things in life."
"Like I said,fire doesn't work on me," she says, "at best I can help everyone else."
"You have already have helped yourself. You have a home, friends and your brother back."
"I had those before everything that happened happened. Back when I still had all of my family."
"I guess, but you have ones who understand you and your powers," Gabi says before cringing, trying to stop the voices.
"I wish I could get rid of them," Jess says, "come on, let's get out of here." Gabi nods and they leave the room. They head off to find something else to do. The two decide to sit on the porch to listen to music and write. They talk for a while before Gabi takes a small nap, her voices cause her to have nightmares.
Sean returns back to the mansion a little while later and heads upstairs to his room. He gets a change of clothes and then goes to shower. He takes a long shower, thinking of a story as to where he was last night if anyone asks. He finishes his shower and dries off and dresses before heading downstairs into the living room. Only Alex and Desiree were there, talking about things.
"Hey guys. Where is everyone?" He asks, sitting down on one of the couches.
"Training or talking," Alex replies, "how was your night? We saw you talking to that guy a lot."
"I scored with a friend of his," Sean says, "man, she was something. Kept me up most of the night."
"Really? Because it seemed like you were flirting with him and he was flirting back."
"Why would I be flirting with a guy? We were just talking. Or is that now a crime?" Sean asks.
"It's not," Alex answers, "that's just what it seemed like. Guess we got more drunk than we thought."
"You guys were pretty drunk," Sean says, "too bad almost all of you are taken. It would be more fun if a bunch of single people went out."
"Sorry, but I am happy to have my girl," Alex says, pulling Desiree close.
"I wonder what it would take to get Charles to go clubbing with me," Sean says, "he's single."
"But he likes Jessica, I thought," Desiree says.
"That's never going to happen," Sean says, "she's got an almost pathological fear of men."
"It might, we talked about it last night. She really does like him but she's in denial."
"It wouldn't be much of a relationship," Sean says, "I read her journal, remember?"
"We remember."
"So, I may not been a telepath, but I saw into her head," Sean says, "and it's pretty messed up."
"We get that, but things can change," Alex says.
"There are some things people just can't get past," Sean says, "what are you two up to, anyways?"
"Desiree wants to know my interests so we can do somethings."
"Oh. Well, I guess I'll get out of here," Sean stands up, "I'll find someone else to bother." In his office, Charles and Erik are going over plans when they both get pain in their heads.
"I thought my headache was gone," Charles sighs, "I'll have to take more pain medication later. Remind me never to drink with you guys again."
"This doesn't seem like a normal headache," Erik says.
"What else would it be?" Charles asks, "anyways, we need to figure out who on our team is best against each member of Shaw's team."
"I know that,Charles," Erik says when they are both hit with another wave of pain.
"What is that? Last time I checked, we weren't bonded," Charles says.
"Is it possible that your sister is doing this?" Erik asks.
"Why would she? Last time I checked, she was fine," Charles says.
"Maybe she's not doing it on purpose. Has this happened before?"
"A couple times, but only when she's really upset about something," Charles says, "but I would know if something was bothering her long before now." They get another wave before an image flashes in their heads. An image of people yelling and insulting Gabrielle.
"Oh no. Not this again," Charles says, "damn it."
"What was that?" Erik asks, his voice shaking a bit.
"She's got these voices in her head. They've been there since she was a kid. I locked them away with my powers the last time they became too much and made her forget about them. Something must have happened. Maybe she hit her head. I've got to fix it." Erik gets up and runs off to find Gabrielle, worried about her. She is still on the porch with Jess, asleep. Charles follows him and finds his sister. He kneels down beside her and enters her mind, hoping that the problem hasn't gotten too bad and that he can still help her.
"Do it!" the voices yell.
"No!" Gabi screams.
"Kill them all, we all know Shaw is right."
"Stop it!"
"Ignore them, Gabi. You need to ignore them. Do you trust me?" Charles asks her.
"Kill this pathetic team," the voices say, "join Shaw like Angel did."
"Please," Gabi sobs, "Stop."
"Gabi, can you hear me?" Charles asks, materializing in her head. He sees her, as well as a few other figures who are much bigger than her, trying to control her.
"You are stronger than they make you think," the voices say, "But they will not help you get there. Shaw can. Do you want to stay weak?"
"Gabrielle! This is your mind, you are in control. I need you to change the scene. Change it into a prison. Do it!" Charles says, walking towards her.
"You have no place here, Charles," the voices growl.
"No, you have no place here!" Charles exclaims, and hits the figure. The figure stumbles a bit, but soon stands straight again.
"This is our home," they say, "we have always been here. No matter what you do."
"Gabi, you have to listen to me! I'm your brother! I need you to think about Erik! Can you do that? Think about him. You're connected to him too. Get him here!"
"Erik," Gabi whispers, focusing on him. He comes into existence beside her and looks around at what's going on.
"Erik, get her to focus on you and make this place into a prison. She's the only one that can trap them!" Charles instructs Erik and hopes that this'll work.
"Gabrielle," Erik says, kneeling next to her.
"Make them stop..." Gabi whines.
"Get away from her, murderer!" the voices yell.
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that," Erik laughs, "I know what I am."
"You are the one who is destroying her from the inside."
"Gabi, Love, I need you to focus on my voice, okay? Can you do that? Focus on just the sound of my voice and the words that I'm saying," Erik tells her, ignoring the voices. Simple taunting doesn't work on him. Not after everything he's been through.
"Erik?" Gabi questions, not opening her eyes.
"This is your mind. You have control. I need you to control it. Turn it into a prison, okay? Change this from a field into a prison."
"I can't..."
"Bull. You are Gabrielle Xavier. You can do anything. So do it. Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you can't. Maybe you're just a helpless little girl."
"I'm not helpless."
"Then prove it! Turn this place into a prison!" Gabi focuses, hard. It changes into a room, Gabrielle is weak from going through everything. Erik and Charles shove the figure into one of the cells and lock it. Erik them turns the wall into solid metal, silencing the voice, and pulling them all out of her mind. Gabi gasps when she wakes up, shaking.
"E-erik?" Gabi asks, "Brother?"
"We're right here," Erik says, taking her hand, "it's all over now."