"Is this safe?" Grace wondered.

She looked around the giant machine, her eyes wide as she took in the surroundings. She still stood on the steps, her hand on the railings as Charles and Raven bounded ahead of her. Erik stood behind her, impatiently clucking his tongue as he waited for her wonder to stop.

"Perfectly," Hank replied. "I call it Cerebro, as in the Spanish for-"

"-The Spanish for brain," Charles finished off, a geeky smile on his face as he looked around the large machine. Raven stood next to Hank, her gaze looking at the controls of the machine. Grace said nothing as she listened to Erik and Charles speak with each other.

She still had her doubts about the machine, especially when Charles placed a large helmet on top of his head. She stood back next to Erik, wondering what was about to happen as Hank began to machine. She shrieked as she heard Charles groan in some kind of pain.

"Is he okay?" Raven was the one to ask Hank, the fear in her voice rising.

"It's working," Charles said as Hank opened his mouth to speak. A laugh escaped Charles as the machine jumped into action and Grace wandered over to see the coordinates make an appearance. Erik followed her, looking over her shoulder whilst Hank grinned, a sense of cockiness coming over him.

"It is," Erik nodded in agreement.

Grace watched as the numbers continued to spill onto the paper and she wondered how many mutants there were in the world. How many of them had extraordinary powers? How many of them were scared to show it though? She didn't know, and she doubted she ever would know.

She turned back around as Erik looked down to her, his gaze catching hers before she saw Charles climb down from the platform, running his hands through his hair to ruffle it back up. He moved to look at Erik, nodding curtly at his friend.

"We should go as soon as possible," Charles told him. "We have work to do."

"You're both going?" Grace wondered, her arms folding over her chest as she did so. A moment of worry took hold of her as she said nothing for a few seconds. Charles and Erik had been the ones who had kept her safe.

She didn't have much trust in the CIA agents. She had a feeling that they would sell her back to her father if any danger came close to them. Not that she could blame them.

"Yes, love," Charles said, his arm moving to guide her back to the steps of Cerebro. She climbed down them with Charles behind her, leaving Hank, Raven and Erik in the machine.

"How long will you be gone for?" Grace wondered. "It's not that I'm...well..."

"You're worried," Charles told her, ignoring her protests. "I know that you are, Grace. I cannot blame you. But nothing shall happen to you. Your father has been quiet thus far. I assume he will be quiet for a while longer. You'll have Raven and Hank with you in the meantime. Besides, you're at a CIA base."

She felt her gaze look over the vast field in front of her before it settled on the window to the recreation room. Keeping quiet, she reached one hand to pull her hair into a ponytail with the elastic band she kept around her wrist.

"I guess," she said, still not completely appeased.

Why was she so scared? If her father came for then what did she really fear? He wouldn't hurt her. He'd had years to do that, but he'd never laid a finger on her. Grace needed to stop panicking about it.

She supposed she wasn't scared of her father hurting her. She was scared of seeing him after knowing what he had done. She had no idea what she'd say to him. She had no idea what he would say to her either.

"Just spend this time...well...not to worry," Charles suggested to her. "We should be back with the first recruit later on tonight."

"It's fine," Grace said, waving a nonchalant hand. "I'll be fine. Look, you go and do what you need to do. I'm sure that you and Erik have better things to do other than babysit...I mean..."

"You're rambling," Charles warned her, a small smirk on his face. "Go inside and get some rest. Erik tells me that you didn't sleep well last night."

Grace looked apprehensive. "And how would Erik know that?"

"He said that he found you on the couch in the recreation room. Apparently he couldn't sleep and you were talking in your sleep."

Grace frowned as she saw Erik come down the stairs.

"He never said anything."

Charles scoffed at that, his hand resting on her shoulder as he moved back inside.

"Did you honestly think he would?"

...

Erik had stood still for some time. He was drained, he couldn't deny that. He was stood by the window of the room where Charles was introducing Angel to the other mutants. He looked out as the darkness engulfed the lawn in front of him. He could see her figure sat on the grass, her arms wrapped around her knees as she stared to the sky.

Charles had looked at his friend for a few moments, wondering what was going through the metal bender's mind. He was almost tempted to take a look. He knew that would be wrong, but Erik made Charles inquisitive. There was something about him and the way he stared at the woman on the lawn.

Charles didn't know what Erik saw in her. He didn't know why he sat with her, why he spoke with her like he did. Charles had seen that Erik was full of rage. He was full of so much anger towards her father, but he never vented it against her. He never spoke to her with distaste, or with hate. It made Charles see the good inside of him.

"She should come inside," Charles declared, moving to stand next to Erik as he looked onto the lawn. "It's getting dark and cold."

"Hm," Erik grunted before Charles looked up to the man he had befriended.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," replied Erik.

"Come along, Erik," Charles chuckled. "I know that I have not known you for long, but I know that there is something on your mind. Something regarding the girl out there."

Erik kept still, his emotions unreadable as he listened to Charles and did his best not to look so worried.

"Something is going to happen," Erik said. "I can feel it, Charles."

His eyes met the telepath's and the smirk dropped from Charles's face.

"Shaw came after her as soon as I found her. He fed her with lies about me. He did his best to cover up the truth. He manipulated her...yet...here she is. She's been with us for two days and there has been nothing since Azazel. Why? Why has he left her here?"

"Perhaps he knows that she knows the truth?" Charles suggested. "Maybe he knows that there is no way out this mess."

"There's something more," Erik said, shaking his head back and forth. "I can sense it, Charles. He's planning something."

"You don't know that, and it may be nothing to do with her," Charles said. "I mean, what can he use her for, Erik? He's probably come to realise that he's lost his daughter."

Erik kept quiet, knowing full well that Charles always tried to look on the brighter side of life. Erik didn't share his optimism. He never did. Erik liked to think that he was practical, hence why his views differed from Charles's.

"I'll go out and speak to her," Charles said.

"No," Erik replied. "I'll go to see what she's doing."

"As you say," agreed Charles with a curt nod.

Erik moved slowly, his mind still working overtime as he thought about everything that he had just discussed with Charles. He wandered down the lawn to where Grace sat, her mind clearly elsewhere as she paid no heed to Erik.

"What are you doing out here?" Erik asked from her.

She said nothing, hugging herself tighter and running her hands down the lapels of her leather jacket, pulling it tighter around her body. She said nothing for a few moments, wondering how stupid her answer would sound to him.

"Nothing," she replied. "Did you find the mutant?"

"After half an hour in a strip club, we did." Erik smirked. "She's called Angel. Pretty self explanatory. She can fly."

"You and Charles must have looked like dirty old men."

"I'm hardly old."

"Dirty, then," Grace smirked up to him as he rolled his eyes.

"As you say. Now are you going to tell me why you're out here?"

"Thinking," Grace admitted to Erik. "I mean...have you ever looked at the stars and realised that you're not the only one here? Like...there are hundreds of other people looking at the same sky as you? And then...some of them...some of them have extraordinary powers. Some of them are like you. Some of them are like Charles...maybe Hank..."

She turned her eyes to look at Erik as he finally sat next to her, his hands extending behind him as he leaned back to look at the sky, supposing that she had a point. She looked over him, silently impressed at the expensive suit which he donned.

"I always thought that I was alone," Erik told her. "After the camp, I spent my time alone. I never considered that there were other more evolved people...others who understood what it felt like to be different..."

"I can only imagine," whispered Grace. "I don't know how it happened, but it did. I look at Hank and Raven and they're lovely together, but they're so scared. They're scared that society won't accept them for who they are."

"It won't," Erik told her, his voice nothing more than a mutter. "How can it accept something more evolved? It fears it, Grace."

"It could come to understand," Grace replied. "Moira has. I have. Why not others?"

"Because not everyone is like you or Moira," warned Erik. "You need to remember that."

Grace said nothing more on the matter, knowing that an argument with Erik would never get her anywhere. She was well aware of it. She stood up and looked down on Erik.

"We should go in before it becomes cold and Charles yells at us," she told him, wiping the back of her legs clean of the grass which stuck to her. She waited for Erik to stand besides her. He moved from the grass promptly, ambling by her side before he felt a presence in the night air.

He stopped walking and turned around, his eyes narrowed as he did his best to focus.

"What is it?" Grace asked from him. "Erik? What is it?"

"Keep your hand on my arm," Erik lowly growled, the breeze blowing.

After years of torment, Erik had learned when danger was imminent. And he knew at that moment in time that it was close. He supposed it was Shaw finally making his move. Grace did as she was told, walking backwards as her fingers curled around his arm and she kept hold of him.

She turned to look behind her, almost yelling at the sight which she saw. Erik felt the tensing of her fingers and he turned around, his elbow nudging her stomach and pushing her to the ground and out of the way.

The red mutant stood there, his face proud as he did so. He ducked the punch which Erik aimed for him, disappearing from sight.

"Grace!"

Charles's voice suddenly snapped as he ran out of the building after looking through the window. Hank and Raven were close on his heels whilst Angel remained stood where she was.

Grace remained on the ground, looking around with worry before Erik moved towards her. She reached her hand out to him as he held his hand out to her. Her fingers curled around his for a moment before she felt a force dragging on her hair.

"No!" Grace yelled as Erik lost hold of her sweaty fingers and the red mutant continued to pull on her hair, dragging her far enough away from Erik to teleport her with him.

Erik moved with haste, lunging across the grass, but he was too late. The red mutant disappeared with Grace and Erik shook his head, wondering what would happen to the girl now.

...

Sebastian sat on the sofa, his hand resting over the back of it whilst Emma rested against her side. He knew what he intended to do with his daughter when she returned to him. It didn't take long for Azazel to get the job done this time. He appeared quickly, Grace Shaw in his grip as she struggled around.

"Get the hell off of me!" she snapped.

Emma smirked at the spirit of the girl as Azazel moved away from her, preferring not to be slapped by the volatile chit. She pushed her hair from her face as Sebastian stood up, looking across to his daughter, a smug grin on his face as he did so.

"Gracie," he sighed her name. "You have no idea how worried I've been about you."

Grace said nothing to her father, deeming it necessary to gather the courage to look at him first. Her eyes finally travelled over his form. He wore a dark suit with a red tie, the smug smirk on his face as he watched his daughter. Grace's eyes widened and she promised herself not to cry, regardless of anything that her father told her.

"You have no right," Grace whispered. "I want nothing to do with you."

"Oh, Grace," Sebastian sighed, moving over to her.

She backed away instantly, the back of her legs hitting his desk as she wobbled around on her feet, doing her best to keep her balance.

"Stay away from me," she urged him. "I mean it, just don't come anywhere near me!"

"You always have been over dramatic," Sebastian complained about her.

He went to take hold of a small glass and poured some whiskey into it, handing it out to the girl. She said nothing, her glare enough to tell him that if she took the liquid then it would be over his head in a moment.

"We have an issue, darling," Sebastian told his daughter. "You see, Emma tells me that there is some activity at the CIA base. We need to know what's happening."

She scoffed at that, her glare flickering over to the telepath. "Can't she tell you? She is a telepath, isn't she?"

"Apparently the telepath your with would pick up on it," Shaw said with a wave of his hand. He kept quiet for a second, watching as Grace pushed her hair behind her ears. "She has done well to keep tabs on you without him noticing...but...to look into your mind...it would be too dangerous."

"And what makes you think I would tell you anything?" wondered Grace from her father.

Her brow arched as she kept her arms folded across her leather jacket. Sebastian kept quiet for a moment, looking to Emma who nodded.

"I don't want to hurt you, Gracie."

"Not like you did Erik?" Grace wondered. "He's told me what you did to him."

"He's told you a lot more, hasn't he?" Emma interjected. "I've seen the two of you when you're alone and the telepath isn't around. Sweet, isn't he? Taking care of you like a child."

Grace glowered further, her cheeks tinting red. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"No need to play dumb, darling," Sebastian told his daughter. "Your sympathy for Erik Lensherr is quite something when you consider that he's been lying to you all along."

Grace spluttered. "You...seriously? Don't even..."

"Emma," Sebastian nodded at the woman.

She focused her gaze onto his daughter, narrowing her eyes as she did her best to look into Grace's memory. The young woman seemingly froze, her mind clouded as she did nothing. Sebastian remained stood where he was, waiting for Emma to finish altering Grace's memories. He needed her to believe him. He needed her to cooperate with him.

It would make his life easier.

Grace's eyes opened and she blinked profusely, her entire memory a blur for a moment. Sebastian looked back to Emma as she nodded to him. She'd done what he had asked her to do.

"Grace, sweetheart," Sebastian whispered to his daughter, snapping her out of the daze she was in.

"Dad," she whispered. "He...he lied to me...he...both of them..."

"What are you talking about, Gracie?" Sebastian wondered, playing along with his daughter as he saw tears form in her eyes. "What is it?"

"Erik," Grace whispered. "You just tried to help him. That was all you did. You wanted to help him."

Sebastian did his best to refrain from smirking. Altering his daughter's perceptions was something which Emma had done easily. He'd see to it that he thanked her when Grace had left. Sebastian stepped forwards, his arms open as Grace wrapped herself against his chest.

"He didn't care about me...none of them did..." she sobbed. "They lied...and...and I almost believed them..."

"Sh," Sebastian soothed his daughter, his hand running down her limp curls. "It is over now, darling. Erik isn't going to hurt me, and he isn't going to hurt you. I promise you that."

Grace pulled back, her eyes wide and her face so innocently childlike that Sebastian was reminded of her youth.

"I'm sorry." She said again through a gurgle.

"You do not need to be sorry for anything," Sebastian promised her, taking hold of her hand and leading her to the sofa.

Emma stood up and moved to the corner, watching with concern as Sebastian sat next to his daughter, both of her hands in his as he spoke to her;

"You did nothing wrong, Grace. You were not to know that they would lie to you like they did. I never hurt Erik, and I do not intend to do anything with the Russians. I intend to make peace, love. You believe me, don't you?"

"Of course," nodded Grace.

"Good," Sebastian smiled, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. "You can help me, Gracie. You can help me stop this."

"How?" she wondered.

"Tell me what they're doing," Shaw persuaded her. "Tell me what is happening and I will make sure they can't find you again. I'll take you back to your apartment...back home...everything will be as it was."

Grace was so tempted by his words. Back to normal. That was what she wanted. It was what she had always wanted. She took a deep breath and Sebastian threw the final words to make her do as he asked.

"You can trust me, Gracie. I'm your dad. I promise to keep you safe."

...

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and those who review! I hope you'll let me know what you think!