Hello everyone! Thank you for your supporting reviews on my last chapter! They mean a lot! As well as the follows and favorites! Thank you, thank you! I'm sorry it took me awhile to update this time. I started my second semester and have been crazy busy! But its here now, a little short, but its here and I hope you all enjoy and proceed to follow this story!

Before heading outside, Harper made sure to grab a first aid kit thought the student made it sound like the injury was much worse than just slapping a couple Band-Aids on a scrap. She followed the student to the fountain and found one of the older students laying on the ground unconscious. There was a nasty bump on his head and a cut that was bleeding. Harper knelt down and tried to recognize the student. She looked at his face more intensely and recognized him as Jeremy Moore. Harper looked up to see a group of students crowded nearby. She turned to the student who had led her outside.

"Sarah, what happened?"

"Well, we were playing football and Jeremy caught the ball for the touchdown. Being the cocky jerk that he is, did a little victory dance on the edge of the fountain and slipped, hitting his head."

Harper opened his closed eyelids to check his pupils. They looked fine which meant he hadn't suffered anything too traumatic. She was guessing he earned himself a concussion and one hell of a headache. As she was cleaning to wound on Jeremey's forehead, Angela pushed her way to the front of the crowd of students. She came over and knelt opposite of Harper.

"Need any help, Doc?" she asked, her face grim as she looked at Jeremey's head wound.

"Yeah, can you get James for me? I'll need his help carry Jeremey inside," Harper said apply a fresh square cut of gauze to the gash.

"Sure thing," Angela said. Though she didn't move to get James and Harper could feel those brilliant colored eyes staring at her. Harper looked up at the teen girl.

"What?"

"Looks like Jeremey here isn't the only one getting' scraps and cuts," Angela said, indicating the healing cut on Harpers jaw. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Harper quipped, applying medical tape to the gauze.

"Does it have something to do with why you, Hank, Professor X and Magneto were gone the other night?"

Harper gave Angela a sharp look. Harper liked the mutant teenager but she was so nosey.

"No, I was just clumsy that's all. Now please go get James." Angela sighed but obeyed Harpers command. She returned with James in tow.

"Doc Pierce, I'm gonna have to start charging you a fee every time you need me to carry a kid around." Harper laughed.

"I know, I know."

"Or you could work out more," Angela commented. Harper glanced down at her workout clothes and then back up at Angela.

"I was working out before I came here!" Harper exclaimed but a flash of the kiss crossed her mind and she felt her cheeks heat up. "

"Uh-huh," Angela said folding her arms over her chest. Harper looked that the teen and her heart pounded in her chest. She thought that maybe Angela's mutation let her see what had happened.

"Angela…" Harper said, trailing off suspiciously.

"What?" Though the teens tone sounded as if she had no idea why Harper was questioning the girl. Harper shook her head.

"Nothing. James, we're gonna take him down to my lab first just for a couple tests and then take him to his bedroom." James reached down and picked up Jeremey carefully. Harper led them into the mansion and down to her lab. James took a seat and waited while Harper did scans and tests to make sure there weren't extensive injuries inside Jeremey's head. Everything turned out clear and she gave James the go ahead to take the other mutant boy to his room. Harper watched as James carried the boy out of the lab. She took a look around the room and realized that this was the last place she wanted to be right now. Harper hurried out of the lab to catch up with James.

"James, wait up. I'll walk with you."

"Sure thing, Doc."

Harper and James walked alongside each other, making small talk. They reached Jeremey's room and James carefully set him down on the bed. Harper sent James to get an ice pack for Jeremey's head. Harper thanked James when he came back, ice pack in hand and then told him that she owed him one. Though James already knew she owed him several. Harper applied the cold compress to the ugly looking bump on Jeremey's head. She had nothing else to do, and wasn't ready to face Charles yet, so she pulled a chair up next to the bed. She waited there until Jeremey woke up. It was about an hour before he did finally woke. He groaned and reached for his head.

"Hey, Jer."

"Dr. Pierce? What… what happened?"" he took the cold compress off of his forehead. He touched the bump but recoiled, his face pained.

"Well the good news is that you got a touchdown," Harper said, with a small smile. "The bad news is that you took a nasty fall when you decided to do your victory dance on the edge of the fountain." Jeremey sighed and slightly rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.

"Oh, yeah. I guess that wasn't the smartest thing to do."

"How does your head feel?"

"Like it was hit by a mac truck." Harper let out a small laugh.

"Well, you've got a small gash but I got it cleaned up and bandaged. You're going to have that nasty bump on your forehead for a couple of days."

"Great. I'll be a total chick magnet." Harper laughed again and Jeremey laughed slightly.

"I advise you clean your gash with rubbing alcohol and change the bandage every other day. Also ice that bump before you go to bed at night. It'll help the swell go down. Think you can handle that, Hotshot?"

"Yeah, no problem Doc." Harper patted the teenager on the shoulder.

"Good. Do you need anything before I go?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks Dr. Pierce."

"It's what I'm here for."

Harper stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She sighed and looked down at her workout clothes and suddenly realized how gross she felt. She needed a shower. Bad. She almost wanted to go back into Jeremy's room and apologize for smelling awful but she advised against it. She headed back to her room and thought about what she would do the rest of the day.

For starters, she'd avoid Erik as best she could. She would also avoid going anywhere near her lab or her research. Then she would think about what she would say to Charles. She was pretty sure Charles didn't want to see her. Though, it has been two days. That was enough time right?

Harper reached her room and opened her door. She let out a shocked cry when she saw someone sitting in the arm chair by the window. Harper stood in the doorway, with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her face.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" she snapped.

"Reminiscing," Erik said, giving her a smirk.

"Reminiscing?"

"This used to be my room, remember?"

"Oh yes. You made that very clear. Though I distinctly remember telling you that it's my room now so," Harper stepped away from the doorway, indicating for him to leave. Her first plan of action for the day had officially been ruined but technically it wasn't her fault. She couldn't have anticipated on him just being here. In her room. Unannounced. Erik did not get out of the chair. An annoyed sound escaped her throat. "Can you just get out?"

"We should talk," he said. Harpers breathe hitched in her chest. No, she did not want to talk and she had a pretty good idea what he wanted to talk about.

"No, I don't think we should." Harper walked farther into the room but still stood some distance away from him. "We have nothing to talk about. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower." She walked straight towards the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"Fine," she heard him say through the door. "But we do have something to talk about and we should talk about it soon." Harper rolled her eyes but knew she couldn't avoid him forever. She listened to his footsteps as he headed for the door. She heard the click of her bedroom door and her tense muscles relaxed. She turned the shower on and stripped out of her workout clothes. She stepped into the shower and the warm water soothed her body and her emotions. Though all of a sudden, the water turned extremely hot and Harper shrieked, almost slipping. She quickly reached for the metal knob and turned it back to a lukewarm temperature.

"Erik!" she yelled angrily, knowing he had turned the knob with only a flick of the wrist. She didn't know if he heard her yell his name but she hoped he had. She also knew that wherever he was, he wore that annoying smirk that made her insides melt.

Later that day, Harper found herself breaking her second rule she'd established for herself. She wondered down to her lab and sat in her stool at the lab table. She had brought out her notebook but did not open it. She only stared at it, her mind blank.

"Harper?"

Harper jumped slightly and looked up to the doorway. Hank stood there, no blue fur visible. It was the first time she'd seen him since the other night. She gave him a small smile.

"What are you doing?" he asked innocently.

"I, uh, don't exactly know to be honest," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Hank walked in the lab and stood opposite from her. He looked down at the untouched notebook. "Hank," she began but her voice got lost in her throat. She shook her head and tried again. "I, no we, were so careful. How could they have gotten to my notes?"

"I'm just going to repeat what was said the other night: someone at the school is with the brotherhood." Harper sighed and put her head in her hands. "It's quite an allligation but it's the only explanation. We don't want to believe it but you and I both know, being scientists, that facts don't lie." Harper felt the sting of tears and closed her eyes, her head slumping forward. Being scientists. She would have laughed if she had it in her. She was a failure not a scientist.

"You know," Hank said, "you shouldn't have taken all the blame. I've done just as many trials as you have—"

"But it was all my idea so I deserved the blame, Hank. There didn't need to be any tension between you and Charles. You've known each other for too long and been through so much together I couldn't have a wedge driven between you two because of me."

"Yes, but now there's tension between you and Charles."

"It's more like he hates me," Harper groaned.

"He doesn't hate you—"

Harper looked up at him with anguish in her eyes. Hank crossed his arms over his chest.

"He doesn't," Hank said more sternly. Harper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Harper." Hank reached across the table to grab her hand. She took her hand away from her face and looked at his hand on top of hers. Mutant and human. He gave it a small squeeze. "Talk to him."

So Harper eventually found herself standing outside of Charles' office. The hallway was empty and she couldn't hear anything beyond the doors.

The words 'Come in' whispered in her head and Harper startled for a second. It was only Charles speaking to her telepathically. She opened the door slowly and took a step into the room. The room was dim with the setting sun and only one lamp was on in the office. Harper looked left towards Charles' desk, thinking she would find him sitting behind that old, battered thing. He wasn't. She turned her head to the right and saw him sitting at a spot designated for him in the arrangement of furniture in front of the fireplace. He wasn't looking at her but instead was looking towards the windows, as if he could see everything that was happening outside. Harper closed the door behind her and walked over to the sitting area. She sat on the edge of the couch facing Charles. His eyes shifted from the space over her shoulder to her own face.

"Can you stand to look at me now?" she asked quietly, half-joking, half-serious. Charles sighed.

"Forgive me Harper, I didn't mean—"

"No Charles don't deny anything. You did mean what you said. I know you meant every word. Sometimes anger can make people say crazy things but most of the time the things they say are the truth."

"Right," Charles breathed softly. "Well then I guess I should let you talk then since I guess I spat out every word I wanted to say." Harper nodded and looked down at her lap.

"The first thing that you should know is that when I first started thinking about doing the experiment, I was thinking of you." She looked up and saw the slight intrigue in Charles' eyes. "I thought to myself, 'what if Charles doesn't always need to use Cerebro?' What if there was a way to magnify your telepathy another way. So I potentially came up with the concept for a serum. A serum that would magnify a mutant's power, the gene itself. It wouldn't permanently magnify their power but just long enough." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I knew you would disapprove and give me a speech about 'what if word got out about this…' 'it would be dangerous if certain people knew…' So I kept it to myself at first until I knew I couldn't handle the workload on my own. I asked Hank to keep it discreet and he did and I owe him for that. I always locked up my notes and destroyed any solutions that I made. I was careful but I guess not careful enough because now look where we are." Harper finished and looked back down at her lap. They both sat in silence, Harper having nothing more to say and Charles thinking about what to say.

"Well," he said, clearing his throat, "I can say that I am humbled that this was all initially for me." That was not the response that she was expecting though she wasn't quite sure what to expect. Harper's gaze shifted back and met his own pale blue eyes. "Harper, I've lost too many people in my lifetime and I still have many years ahead of me. I don't want to lose anymore."

"Does this mean you're not kicking me out?" Charles smiled lightly.

"Oh, I'm definitely kicking you out," he said with amusement in his voice. Harper and Charles shared a laugh and then it became quiet again. Harper spoke up first.

"Charles, should I leave the mansion? They obviously know where I am because someone got to my research. They've been in my lab, living amongst us." She said the last part slightly quieter. Charles let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We have a traitor and I don't like to admit it but we do. I don't know how I could have missed it."

"Do you think it could be one of the students?"

"Students…teachers, it could be anyone."

"Do you think there's more than one?"

"Good God, I bloody hope not."

"So how do we try to find out who it is without raising suspicion? Some of the students can tell when you're in their minds."

"I know. That's why I'll have to try my best at avoiding those who can. The others, we'll have to keep a watchful eye on." Harper nodded.

"I'll stop my trials then." Charles looked as though he were about to object but Harper held up her hand. "There's no point in continuing. It's too dangerous now. I know that the man from the Brotherhood said that their telepath wasn't very strong but that doesn't mean that they can't communicate with one another."

"I would sense it if they were speaking telepathically."

"They could be doing from outside the mansion. Many of the teachers don't live here and a lot of the students like to explore the schoolyard," Harper pointed out.

"Right, well we'll just try our best then. I'll inform Hank and Erik as soon as I can." Charles reached forward and clutched Harpers hand in his own. "We'll be okay." Harper nodded.

"We'll be okay," she repeated. She patted his hand and stood. "I should go back down to the lab and get my research. We took the only file that they had on everything so I'm guessing they'll count on their spy to getting more photographs. I'll take it back to my room, just in case."

"Just don't hide it under the mattress."

"Never." Harper said with a smile before heading to the door. Though before she walked out, a thought came across her mind. She turned back to Charles.

"Charles," she said and he looked over at her. "What if… what if the Brotherhood comes here and we are in danger?"

"There are many safe passageways for the students to navigate through and I wouldn't let anything happen to you or Hank."

"What about Erik?" Harper asked, not sure why she even did.

"He has proven that he can take care of himself if necessary." Harper nodded and said goodbye before leaving. She headed down the hallway, heading towards the passageway that led down to the lower levels. Though she didn't get farther than the schools main staircase when she felt her shoulder throb, but it was more intense than usual. She knew it was on purpose. She stopped at the foot of the staircase and turned to see Erik striding her way from the opposite hallway. When he approached her, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"What do you want?"

"I told you before," he said standing in front of her now. "I want to talk." Harper sighed and folded her arms over her chest.

"Fine. Talk."

"I want you to know that I meant what I said the other night." Harper had to think past certain events to know that he was talking about what he did the night of the mutant fiasco was to save her. She simply nodded her head. "And to explain my thank you," he said. Harpers eyebrows knitted together and cocked her head to the side.

"You're 'thank you'?"

"The kiss was a thank you." Harpers mind exploded and so did her chest.

"It was a 'thank you'?" she asked, condescendingly. Then she did remember him saying it was a thank you after she had asked why he had done it. Though, her brain disregarded that tidbit of information.

"I wanted to thank you for the research that you conducted in secret. I understand what Charles doesn't. That you were trying to help mutants get stronger. Not many humans would want that for us. So, thank you." Harper was just standing there, listening to him speak but wasn't comprehending anything at all. He kissed her as a 'thank you.' A 'thank you?' Then her mind snapped and she acted impulsively. She slapped his face so hard that her hand hurt afterwards. Erik's head whipped to the side and his mouth hung open. A red mark started to form on his cheek. He raised a hand to his face, touching it gently. He turned his head to look at her and Harper saw actual, genuine surprise in his eyes.

"Well you know what, Mr. Lensherr? Most people just say 'thank you' when they want to thank someone!" she exclaimed. Harper felt her face turn hot and before he could say anything else, she bolted up the staircase and ran straight for her room.