Cavatina

Chapter 10

Hey Guys! So I have no clue what is going on with Fanfic, but email alerts aren't going through so I hope ya'll don't miss out on reading this! I feel really bad about it... but I'm not in charge of their servers so hopefully by the time I get back from Europe it is fixed... If you have any ideas or know whats going on... let me know!

Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, this are slowly starting to come together, and don't forget that the next time I will be updating will be the last weekend of May given that is when I will be traveling back home!

Noface: Hopefully her code name will spark some ideas! And I'm sorry I lied (I forgot what I pre-wrote and what things were in what chapter) but her nickname is reveled in this chapter! Don't worry, you'll have to read it so I am not giving away any spoilers! And the whole Logan thing doesn't play out for a while... like not until part 2 while... And if you liked that Erik x Harper scene... boy do I have some fun for you this chapter... and especially next chapter given that it is the fight that everyone is thinking about... MUHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Alex: I am feeling really lazy right now so I am abbreviating your name :P As usual I am so grateful for your comments and you just make me feel so good about myself and my writing. Thank you so much for your unconditional support and I hope you love this chapter!

Charles and Erik were sitting in front of the Lincoln memorial as the midday sun warmed them. As unusual as it was, there were not many people out and about trying to tour the monument at its present time—which was uncommon. So, there was peaceful feeling that was cast between the two men since there weren't many interruptions, only the occasional tourist trying to get directions, to their chess game.

Each man decided to take their time with each move they made, and it was especially difficult to play against the other when they were both sober. They were an equal match and when it came to playing chess, it was always a competitive battle to see who would win. However, it was Charles's turn to move his piece and he realized that throughout the whole game, Erik had been withdrawn and only half paying attention. Charles came to this conclusion when Erik's moves weren't well thought out, alerting Charles that Erik had something bothersome on his mind.

"Are you trying to throw the game and come back as an underdog?" Charles spoke in a light tone, picking up his chess piece and taking Erik's bishop.

Erik let out an aggravated sigh as Charles took his chess piece and rested it on the cement step next to where he was seated.

"Well I wasn't trying to, but I mean if you try hard, enough you can probably checkmate me in the next few turns here…" Erik sighed.

Charles knew that Erik was dodging the underlying question, so he figured that for some reason or another, Harper was on Erik's mind, on again. Whatever Harper had said to him that night the two of them went to the bar, it worked somehow, and Erik decided to stay and try it Charles's way. For that, Harper will always have Charles's thanks. However, at times like these he always wondered what the two of them talked about.

They were either being friendly towards one another, or they were trying to pick a fight with each other. Charles had started to realized that over the course of their time at the facility, the two of them had started to get used to each other and they didn't try picking up fights with one another as much as they used to when they first met each other. However, there was still times in which Charles worried about Erik's mindset given that he tried to pick a fight with Logan only a few days ago.

"I don't think it is a good idea to keep gathering more mutants. It is drawing attention to us, Charles."

Charles blinked a few times at Erik's words because he wasn't expecting this as the topic of conversation. Nevertheless, Charles figured that if Erik wanted to talk about something, he would oblige and try to have a conversation with him.

"Well, we need an army to fight Shaw… and I have full faith in those who we have rounded up. I trust them…"

"But do they have any fighting experience Charles?" Erik said giving Charles a look in which he knew for a fact that the mutants that they found had little to no idea as to how to be in a real fight.

"If we give them some time to train I am sure that they will be adequate. Do you think adding more mutants will just waste more time?"

"No. That isn't the point I am trying to make here… Once we find Shaw and dispose of him and his crew, we will be alerting the whole world that mutants exist. I know how it feels to be rounded up and experimented on, and I am not going to let that happen to me again."

"What does Harper think of all this?"

Erik turned his head to the side to look at Charles's passive face. Charles had propped himself up onto his elbows as he leaned against the cement stairs looking out across the reflection pool and the Washington monument waiting for Erik to respond. Charles knew full well what his motive was in bringing up Harper, and he knew that he had caught Erik off guard. Charles was curious to see where this conversation would lead them.

"What do you mean, what does she think?" Erik said getting defensive with Charles.

Erik had started to feel comfortable around both Harper and Charles and figured that he could start to lower his guard around him. Not completely, but lower it enough that he didn't have to look behind him at every moment and every sound. So, when Charles brought up Harper, it was like his unconscious took over and he started to become defensive at the mention of her.

"Does she think that rounding up mutants is a good thing or a bad thing?"

"How the hell should I know?" Erik curtly responded.

Charles couldn't help but crack a smile at how Erik instantly switched into a defensive mode, it was almost as if Erik was trying to protect Harper from an invisible threat that wasn't even there.

"Well, I'm sure that if there was a major problem with who we have now, she would stop it… I know that she would try to do anything to save this world, especially since I saw how the world looked when she let me into her mind…"

Erik listened to Charles as he tapered off his last sentence and what came out of his mouth peaked Erik's interest.

"What was it like?"

"Hmm?" Charles question taking his eyes away from the reflection pool and glanced at Erik.

"Her future. She doesn't talk about it much…" Erik said trying not to hint at the few glimpses or information he received from Harper about her future, especially about her ex.

Unconsciously, Erik ran his hand over his knuckles that had stuck Logan. The bruises were a faint shade of yellow and green, meaning that his wound was almost healed.

"Its… sinister. The outside world has ominous clouds in the sky that block out most of the light and there is a fear of constant attack and war… Not only that, but many humans and mutants have tried to take refuge from nuclear warfare and radiation that plagues the planet…"

Erik ran a hand through his hair knowing that what Charles was telling him was probably only the tip of the iceberg. Especially if that vision of Harper's memory was real, he could only imagine what Harper had to go through. It pissed Erik off to no end that shit like this was still hurting people… Especially since the Holocaust should have taught the world to look after their fellow man, not destroy each other. However, on the other hand, it came as no surprise that humanity wanted to take out the mutants due to the fear of the power that they wielded.

"So world war three isn't going to be nation versus nation… it is going to be humans with a military arsenal versus us who have powers… No wonder why Harper came here. She needs the mutants to win so we don't die off…"

"I don't think that is entirely true here Erik… I don't think Harper came here to insure the mutant's victory…"

Erik just looked at Charles with a hard look on his face not believing a word that was coming out of Charles's mouth.

"I mean to say that if that was the case then Harper would hold ill-will towards the non-mutants that she has met here, like Moria, but that simply isn't the case. I sometimes wonder if she is trying to find a compromise between humans and mutants so they work together…not against each other. I have a feeling that both sides need the other in order to survive in this world…"

Erik couldn't believe what he was hearing come from Charles's mouth. Erik questioned if Charles realized that the two races were at war with each other. Unfortunately, Erik knew full well that the humans wouldn't stop until mutants were eradicated from existence.

"How naive can you be Charles?"

Charles squinted his eyebrows together in thought and was about to vice his opinion but Erik cut him off.

"My childhood was just like what is happening in our future… Harper's present!... Or whatever kind of timeline she is in now… You don't get that these men will try to do the same thing that just had happened in World War Two… except this time, there will be no one tying to rescue the mutants… just like there was no one trying to rescue us for the longest time…" Erik yelled at Charles, almost panting by the time he was done with speaking.

Erik turned away with Charles, feeling his eyes start to water from the memories that were just brought to the surface. He saw flashes of both men and women suffering, images of himself getting tortured and experimented on, and other heartbreaking memories that no one should wish upon their worst enemy.

Charles saw that Erik was trying to calm himself down and to his credit, Charles believed that Erik had made some good points. Charles always tried to see the good in not only the world, but people as well. And as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that some people just didn't have a soul worth saving. However, Charles had no idea how to make Erik feel better, and even if he did have an idea, he wasn't sure it would work.

"I promise you that we will not bring any more mutants into this fight Erik… I know you don't believe me, but our gang of mutants is going to be fine against Shaw's group. It's hard to see that, but I trust them and I know they won't disappoint… We may be in the spotlight as being the first mutants unveiled, but if we are able to work with people like Moria, we will stand a chance in living in harmony…"

Erik took a few calming breaths and managed to push everything to the side for now and he returned his gaze to Charles. Charles noticed that Erik's eyes seemed to have more water in them than usual; and he knew Erik wasn't going to let it out and cry in front of just anyone. Charles bit his tongue and hoped that Erik believed him and that Charles's words were enough of a reassurance.

Erik scratched his temple in response, not knowing how to respond. He generally was not one to get that emotional with anyone, but for some reason, he always felt that Charles brought it out of him. Erik felt that if he ever wanted to talk about his issues with Charles, he could because he knew that Charles would never hold such things against him.

"I think I saw one of Harper's memories…" Erik said softly, changing the conversation and not furthering the other conversation that he was having with Charles.

Charles was a little taken aback by the sudden change in topic, but as he realized, the whole conversation came full circle when Erik mentioned her. Charles was sure that neither himself, Raven, Harper, or Hank for that matter, had told Erik that she was able to not only share her strong emotions and memories and others but see theirs as well.

"How were you able to do that? I thought…"

"Yeah, I thought so too. I'm thinking that she is keeping something else from us. I haven't found the right time to bring it up with her to ask if everything I saw was real… Plus, she has been trying to keep her distance from me ever since that night."

"What night?"

"The night where I found her in the bathroom expelling her guts into the toilet and I placed my hand on her shoulder and found myself transported into a dark warehouse only to see Harper getting practically torn apart and experimented on… I figured that night she was there was when her original powers crossed with the new ones she obtained…"

Charles knew that Harper had been experimented on given that that was how she proved to him she had those abilities, but he didn't know the extent or details behind it. Apparently, it was even more graphic than what Erik was letting on based on the grimace that Charles saw plastered on Erik's face when he spoke of the event.

"I believe what you saw was real…"

"Was that one of the memories she showed you when you first met her?"

"No… but…"

"But what?"

"I promised Harper I wouldn't saw anything more about this than I needed to, but I figured that now is the time in which I need to tell you. If Harper is touching someone, she can transmit not only her strong emotions and memories to someone, they can transmit theirs to her. From my understanding, though, it hardly happens when she is contacting someone because she can block it out using her defensive powers… Just promise you won't say anything to her about what I just told you…She would probably yell at me again and I really don't want to have to keep apologizing…" Charles grimaced.

Erik sat there processing the information that he received form Charles. It started to all make sense as to why she was able to do what she could, given that her ex gave her the regenerative abilities and when Charles was talking to her when she was undergoing experimentation, a part of his power must have broken off as well, and implanted itself into Harper. Erik knew that he would make sure to keep Charles's secret safe with him: that Charles had told Erik the last piece of information about Harper's abilities. Erik scratched his nose and licked his lips, as his curiosity was intrigued about Harper. All he knew was that he wanted to open up every door that Harper was keeping closed.

"Come on… If you're really from the future… tell us who wins the world series in '62" announced Alex across the room when Harper entered.

Harper instantly became aware of all the eyes that were on her as she decided to casually check up on the younger mutants that were gathered around talking to each other and drinking some low-grade alcohol. Immediately, Harper turned her gaze to look at Hank and Raven. Hank simply glanced down at his feet and Raven blushed when she made eye contact with Harper, making Harper believe that the two of them somehow voiced that she was from the future to the new group members. After a pause, Harper decided that there was no use in hiding it anymore and decided to go with the flow—especially if these were the mutants that were going to have her back when they took on Shaw together.

"Well, even if I told you, you probably still wouldn't believe me."

"Well that's why you have to tell us, unless you are too chicken to do so…" squawked Sean as he mimicked chicken noises.

Harper cocked her hip and placed her hand there as she raised her eyebrows not believing in the juvenile behavior she was witnessing.

"You guys do know that the world series of '62 is a long way off from my time, right?"

"Then are you admitting that you were lying to everyone?" voiced Angel in a cocky and sassy tone that only Harper seemed to notice.

Harper squinted her eyes and glared at Angel who tried to smile innocently to keep up her façade but Harper knew that Angel thought she had Harper backed into a corner.

"To make you happy… the New York Yankees win the world series in '62… and before you ask me, because I know that is your next question, they face the San Francisco Giants. The Yankees pull it out in game seven for the win in Candlestick Park."

"How do we know that they win?" Alex questioned accusatorily.

"You don't… you just have to take my word for it. I mean my word is pretty good because I usually use statistics over the years to beat on certain sports… That's how I know who wins in '62… and that is one thing you can trust…"

"Which is what?" voiced Darwin.

"That someone will always tell the truth when their own money is at stake in the form of gambling…" Harper said as a wicked smiled flashed over her face.

"Well in a year when this game is played, I'm going to call bullshit if the Yankees don't win…"

"Well, do you want to bet on it then, Alex?" Harper questioned while smirking knowing that she was going to win this bet with ease.

Alex licked his lips and found it funny that this girl, the same age of twenty-six that he was, was trying to face off against him.

"Sure, buttercup… what's the wager?"

"Well, what do you want it to be, sweetheart?" Harper fired back.

Alex stood up and walked over to where Harper was standing in the back of the room. No matter what decade it was, Harper always got a kick out of guys who tried to create a "swagger" walk. To her, it was stupid and she felt sorry for the women who that walk worked on. But, she didn't fail to notice how all eyes in the room were watching the two. Out of her peripheral, she saw Angel get a threatening look in her eye as if she could use this against Harper in the future.

"I was thinking maybe you and I… we go out on a date that has nice food and drinks…and at the end of said date…" Alex said as he started laughing.

Harper raised her eyebrows indicating to Alex that he should keep going with his train of thought and he just smirked at her in response, letting his laughter die back down.

"You have to kiss me."

Harper couldn't help but smile at the proposition that Alex was making. If she was drinking anything, she probably would have done a spit-take as she would be laughing too hard to take Alex seriously. Harper was going to think that it was something more dirty, but she had a feeling that Alex was trying to work his way in with Angel and didn't want to sound too arrogant with Harper, since it could hurt his chances with Angel.

"Sounds fair enough to me." Harper shrugged her shoulder and ran a hand through her hair, not bothering to wipe her own cocky smile from her face.

"Then what are your conditions, Harper?" Hank spoke up alerting everyone that he was still there.

"Thank you for asking Hank… hmm… I guess it would have to be that if I won… I want you to say that I was right all along and that you never should have doubted me at all. Not only that, but your good with fixing up cars, right?" Harper licked her lips trying to keep Alex from seeing her smirk, but to no avail.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because… there is a car from '62, a ford mustang, that I want and when the time comes, I want you to track one down… and make sure I get one… without me having to pay anything for it…"

"Harper, I don't think that is really fair terms…" Hank voiced his concern of the deal.

"Well, you guys did ask me what I wanted… so, what is it going to be Alex? You going to take the bet or are you going to back down from it?"

Harper licked her lips knowing that she had won and backed Alex into a corner. She could softly hear Sean say "oooooo" in the background taunting Alex seeing as Harper had dished his crap right back at him.

"Fine… I'll take that bet." Alex states in a military-like voice and extends his hand knowing that he either had to accept it and face reality, eventually, or feel like he lost to a girl.

Harper took his hand and the two of them shake on it, Harper knowing full well that she was going to win this bet. She looked around the room and almost everyone was starting to go back to what they were talking about. Darwin and Sean were debating who was going to lose the bet and Raven and Hank struck up a new conversation about something completely irrelevant. All Harper could see from Angel was that she was back to giving her death glares.

Alex was the first one to pull away from the bond that sealed their deal together as he returned to his place next to Angel on the couch. Everyone seemed to be getting into their own respective conversations as Harper reached over and grabbed a can of coke from the back counter and was about to exit the room when she heard Raven speak.

"Come on, I bet you that Harper has a cool nickname! We should come up with awesome code names based on our powers… I want to be called… Mystique!"

"Oh come on… I wanted that name…" sounded Sean.

Raven turned to Harper and knew what she was going to ask before she said it.

"So, what is yours Harper?"

Harper didn't feel like playing this game with Raven and everyone else in the room but she found that she had no real way of getting out of it.

"Uhh… well… If Raven and Hank already told you I was from the future and you didn't question it then I am pretty sure that they told you about my powers…"

"Yeah, but you never said if you have a cool name… like Mystique."

Harper watched as Sean and Raven shared in a smile that put Hank on edge. Harper knew that it was going to be hard for Hank to make a move on Raven and she realized it was going to be even harder since Hank realized that the other male mutants in the group may be sweet on Raven as well.

"Well, I didn't really have a nickname… But I guess a few times I was given a code-name when I went on missions…" Harper trailed off.

"Well, what was it?" Raven smiled not being able to contain the excitement from her voice.

"If I remember correctly, it was something along the lines of Lady Refraction… thanks to my defensive powers…" Harper shrugged.

"Well I know that I already have a stage name, so I want to keep Angel" Angel voiced almost immediately, taking the attention from Harper and drawing it back onto herself.

Harper sighed and took this moment to escape from the room as she tried to make herself think that Angel wasn't trying to be flippant. Angel was really just giving her an excuse to leave. However, Harper's peace of mind was short lived when she bumped into Moria running down the hall, looking frantic. Moria seemed to have sweat lining her forehead and it seemed that she was concerned about some news that she just stumbled upon.

"Hey, you doing okay, Moria?" Harper asked with concern.

After taking a few deep breaths, Moria slowed down her breathing and could speak to Harper in full sentences instead of short bursts of words.

"I was coming to find you, Erik, and Charles. I know the latter two just got back and are waiting in the conference room, but I needed to come find you as well… because I think you can help us."

Harper gave Moria a confused look and wondered why the woman in front of her needed her help so urgently. But before she could ask, Moria started to walk briskly down the hallway and in such a way, that it was implied that Harper should follow.

"What do you mean coming to find me? What's going on?" Harper said trying to catch up with Moria.

Moria turned down two more corridors, quickly and efficiently, knowing exactly where to go before she answered Harper, as the two of them fell into a brisk pace, side by side.

"My chief just called me to report that the CIA has found the whereabouts of Sebastian Shaw. He apparently was holding one of the Russian's head military's daughters as hostage to get a meeting with someone even higher up in the food chain. My chief wants us to leave tonight to depart for a disclosed location, because we know that either Shaw or his subordinates, or maybe even both, will be at this meeting with this elite Russian official. If we can make it to the military base in the next twenty minutes, it will only take three hours to get to this disclosed location, so we need to get a move on."

Harper took a deep breath trying to pick up and process all that Moria was trying to tell her. She knew that this was going to come, sooner or later, when she had to fight alongside Erik and Charles, not to mention the rest of the gang, to take down Shaw and his operations. She just figured that it wasn't going to be happening this soon. Instead, she thought that their time together was going to be stretched out even farther given that it was so hard to locate the man. That is why a few red flags started to go off in Harper's head making her believe that Shaw wasn't going to be the one who was going to be showing up at this meeting.

However, before Harper could voice these feelings or ask any questions over the information she was presented from Moria, Moria opened the doors to the conference room and there she was met with both Erik and Charles's blue eyes staring back at her. She realized then, that it wasn't Moria's idea to enlist the help of Harper, but actually, the two men stood opposite of her.

"They aren't ready for battle yet, Charles" Erik angrily argued his point looking at Harper for some sort of backup. Erik looked at Harper given that he knew, all too well, that Moria was always on Charles's side, no matter what the situation was.

Harper sighed and knew that Erik was trying to get a fairly accurate point across, she just didn't know how to voice her concern without pissing off Charles.

"Charles, Erik is right in this situation. I know that Hank and Raven don't have much fighting experience and just look at you when Erik tried to start a bar fight… you basically froze in place. They need to be taught these skills before we let them out into the real world so they actually stand a fighting chance against their enemies" Harper said trying to back up Erik and make her point to Charles by adding in the example of him.

"That was one time, and I know that the two of you will see that we should bring them. They may not have the fighting experience that you two seem to have, but are a valuable asset to our team when we go—"

All four of them, Harper, Erik, Charles, and Moria, come to a standstill in the court yard that looked into the room in which they left the inexperienced mutants.

"What the hell?" Moria voiced what the four of them were thinking.

The courtyard was in taters, with the once metal stature of the facility's founder now sliced into three pieces. Not to mention, the window was in shattered fragments of glass on the cement. To make matters worse, Hank was hanging upside down from the fan, Alex was taking turns with Sean, trying to break Darwin's hard outer shell caused by his mutation, Angel was flying around and Raven was hopping from furniture piece to furniture piece. To top it all off, everyone seemed to be dancing, as if they were in a night club, even while doing these activities.

Charles cleared his throat, as he was the first one to regain his composure and couldn't believe what he was witnessing, and tried to get the other mutant's attention before Moria took over.

"What are you doing!?" Moria screamed at the mutants in the room.

Harper watched as Sean quickly sprang into action and turned down the loud music knowing full well that they were all caught red handed. However, apparently, Raven was too intoxicated to notice that she and the rest of them were in trouble, even after the music was turned off and Hank jumped down, off the fan, and landed next to Raven.

"Who destroyed the statue?" Moria angrily raised her voice at them

Hank was the first person to press blame and simply stated that it was Alex's fault.

"No, his name is Havoc now… and we have to call him that. And we were thinking, because we all came up with cool code names… we came up with some for the two of you!" Raven clapped, gesturing to Erik and Charles.

Raven didn't let the thickening silence affect her in anyway, and decided to keep talking even though the tension between everyone was starting to build, never realizing how intoxicated she was throughout the whole situation which only made matters worse.

"You're Professor X…" Harper said pointing at Charles and then moving her finger so she was now pointing at Erik, "And you're Magneto…" Raven said with a silly smile plastered on her face.

There was a pause and Harper closed her eyes as if not to cringe at the moment that was transpiring in front of her. She was even angry with Raven and Hank, and all of the other mutants. It wasn't their house or property to destroy. Now, someone had to clean up the mess that they made.

"Exceptional…" Erik stated simply, knowing all too well that he was correct with his assumptions of the group the first time around and this just went to prove his point.

Erik took his leave, exiting from the court yard. Moria just stood there and shook her head at the younger mutants as if she just got done with yelling at a child who had just drawn all over white walls with markers. Eventually, Moria didn't have anything left to say to them, and with hands on her hips she started to walk away.

Harper figured that this was also when she should make her exit given that she had nothing to say to the group. However, before she followed Moria out of the court yard, she heard Charles speak to Raven.

"I expect more from you" Charles simply said as he too, walked across the courtyard to join Moria, Harper, and Erik.

Harper could only imagine what Raven and the rest of the group looked like after getting a scolding from not only Moria, but Charles as well. The four of them continued in silence until they reached the garage. However, Harper could tell that something was up with Moria.

"Moria, what—"

"I don't think we should leave them here alone… You just saw the destruction that they caused and I don't think they should be left alone to cause more of it. "

"Yes, I get that, but we have to go get Shaw… He should be our number one priority here… Not some silly kids in a CIA facility…" Erik said.

"That is exactly why I am worried about them! Not everyone here is going to let them off with some scolding—"

"I'll stay" Harper voiced breaking up the conversation between Moria and Erik.

"What do you mean you'll stay?" Erik angrily spoke.

"Moria is right. Some of the agents here aren't too keen on us staying here. The least I can do is make them clean up the mess that they made and smooth over some of the damages so the agents don't blow anything out of proportion…" Harper said smoothly.

"I'm with Harper on this one… It will be easier to move with three people instead of four and we may need someone here in case headquarters gets another message." Charles finally voiced his opinion.

"Then it is settled then. Charles and Erik you are with me, and we have to leave now in order to catch our flight." Moria said with an authoritative tone.

Charles and Moria proceeded to pass by Erik and Harper who seemed to be standing there waiting for the other to talk once more. Harper decided to speak first knowing that if Erik wasn't following behind Charles soon, then he would miss his ride and Charles would question him about what the two of them were talking about.

"Stay safe, Erik" Harper said softly meeting her eyes with Erik's.

Erik raised his eyebrows not thinking that Harper was going to say this to him, and instead of fighting it, he tried to play along.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I know that you have this vendetta against Shaw… and I'm not stupid enough to not ask you to give it up… But just don't get hurt… I don't want to have to keep saving your sorry ass…" Harper trailing off while referencing shielding both him and Charles when they were trying to get on the navy boat some time ago.

Erik blew air through his nose and laughed at Harper, and instead of saying anything in response, he just placed a hand on her head and messed up her hair. Harper closed her eyes as strands of her hair went every other place and she backed away from Erik.

However, when Harper finally smoothed her hair from her face and opened her eyes, she saw Erik on his way to the car that Moria and Charles had just gotten too. Harper watched as Erik crossed the full length of the garage not looking back at her once.

Charles ran into the house that the Russian diplomat was in, following Erik who decided to charge in after Shaw's female subordinate. Once Moria, Charles, and Erik realized that Shaw was not going to be showing up at the house, Erik had only one thought… and that was obtaining information on Shaw.

Charles caught up with Erik just before he flung open the doors to reveal the Russian diplomat groping thin air and Shaw's subordinate, Emma Frost, sitting on the couch looking disgusted. However, when Charles and Erik ran into the room, Emma dropped her façade with the diplomat and he slowly came back to reality. The diplomat was quick to reach for a gun, but Charles put his fingers to his temple and made the man go to he fell asleep, Emma stood up from the couch and changed into her impenetrable diamond form and Charles once again tried to read Emma's mind but a sharp pain went through his head.

"You can stop trying to read my mind, sugar. You're not going to get any information from me while I am in this form…"

Emma tried to size up both Erik and Charles and they did the same to her. Emma decided that while the two men she faced off against weren't making a move, she should make the first one and she tried to make a run for it. However, Erik and Charles caught her arms and dragged her backwards as Erik used his abilities to pin her against the bed post by binding her wrists with metal so she couldn't escape

"So, then, you can just tell us where he is… Where is Shaw?" Erik asked with malice in his voice.

Instead of answering, Emma decided to stay silent and stare down the two men. But Erik wasn't having any of it given that he came this far and didn't want to let Shaw slip through his fingers. Erik motioned for more metal from the bedframe to wrap around Emma's neck causing her to try and wiggle her way free.

"Erik…" Charles said voicing his concern after he saw the metal getting tighter and tighter around Emma's neck.

Eventually, Emma's diamond form started to crack and Erik released the metal that he had around her neck. Emma instantly faded into her normal form and breathed heavily from the encounter she just had with Erik.

"She is all yours Charles… she won't be shifting into diamond form any time soon and if she does so happen to do that, give her a little tap and she will be spilt into a thousand little pieces…" Erik said victoriously as he went over by the coffee table and poured himself a glace of what looked like to be bourbon.

Emma again didn't say anything as Charles came to squat down in front of her and he placed his fingers against his temple trying to read Emma's mind. Instantly, Charles was flooded with images of plans that Shaw seemed to want to act out, but Charles couldn't tell which ones he was willing to go through with since he knew that Emma didn't have all the answers.

"I fear that what Shaw is planning is worse than we originally thought…" Charles said with a heavy voice.

"I take it you found what you were looking for…" Emma licked her lips feeling ticked off that she let Charles into her head.

However, those were the last words that Erik wanted Charles to speak. He looked down at the drink that he poured and felt that it wasn't worth drinking anymore. Erik knew that Charles would give him more information as to what he found out at a different time when Moria and Harper were with them, but it wasn't hard to guess what Shaw was planning.

"We are taking you with us because I have a feeling that the CIA may want to have a few words with you…" Charles told Emma with a hard voice.

"I doubt it… I mean they do have bigger things to worry about right now…" Emma smirked at both Charles and Erik.

Erik looked at Charles who looked back at him, both realizing that they may have tried to get the wrong information from Emma. Neither had a feeling that what was about to happen to the CIA was a good thing. Erik placed his drink down on the coffee table and leaned forward hoping to God that Emma wasn't about to say what he thought she was about to.

"You two really need to start asking the right questions—"

"What do you mean that the CIA has bigger things to worry about?" Charles asked curtly.

"Well, I mean it isn't hard to guess…" Emma replied trying to act innocently.

Erik stood up quickly and approached Emma, tightening the metal around her wrists.

"Tell us what the fuck is happening, or I'm going to move the metal from your wrists to your neck… and this time I may not stop…" Erik threatened Emma.

Emma glared at Erik and knew that he wasn't bluffing like Charles was when it came to hurting her. She knew that Charles didn't have what it took, but she wasn't about to test Erik's patience—especially seeing that he had a newfound rage boiling within him.

"Well, Shaw and the others are making their way over to the facility you two were staying at so he could have a little talk with the mutants that you two left behind. Plus, Shaw wants to talk to that one mutant who had those defensive abilities that saved the two of you and the US Coast guard… he thinks that she would be a great asset to our team… It was Harper, wasn't it?" Emma said licking her lips while batting her eyes knowing full well that she was getting under Erik's skin.

Erik started to tune out what Emma was saying after that. Both Charles and himself had left to go find Shaw here, but Erik was clearly starting to see that it was a set up Shaw created so he could try to get his hands on Harper… for some reason or another. At first Erik's blood was boiling at the thought of Shaw invading the facility and now all that coursed through his veins was worry because the more he thought about it, he knew that there was no way Charles and himself would make it back in time before Shaw entered the facility. He knew that the humans would be no help against Shaw and that the group that they collected would have no idea how to battle him and his subordinates. So, the fight would land on Harper's shoulders.

Erik didn't doubt her ability, but three versus one weren't great odds, no matter who you were. So, Erik left Charles alone with Emma, and ran out to where the Moria was still waiting at the truck. Erik jumped in and apparently, Charles ran after him with Emma in toe, having used his abilities to render her unconscious. The CIA agents helped Charles quickly detain her and place her into the caravan. Charles jumped into the car seat next to Moria and explained to her what was happening.

Moria didn't hesitate as she slammed the gas pedal to the floor and everyone lurched forward. She started to bark orders at the other CIA agents to try to start calling headquarters to see if they could get them a warning before it was too late. However, the only thing that went through Erik's mind were thoughts about Harper. With each bump the trunk went over, Erik could feel his anxiety and stress rise.

Erik couldn't help but think that if anything happened to Harper, he wouldn't forgive himself. Especially since he never said anything back to Harper when she told him to be safe… and he just blew her off. He was also kicking himself for never turning around to look back at her. He desperately fought the feeling of looking back to her because he knew that if he had locked eyes with Harper, he would want to stay with her; even if it was just to deal with those idiotic children. Erik ran a hand through his hair and willed Moria to drive faster, and for the first time in a long time, Erik closed his eyes as he silently started to pray.

MUAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How was that for a cliff hanger?! :P See you guys in ~3 weeks!

Love,

Lupe